


Ink, Blood, and Bullets

by AnotherWorld3111



Series: Ink, Blood, and Bullets [1]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Age Swap, Alternate Universe - Federal Agents, Alternate Universe - Serial Killers, Anal Sex, Angst, Bottom Jensen Ackles, Detective Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Doctor Jared Padalecki, Domestic Boyfriends, Domestic Fluff, FBI Agent Alona Tal, FBI Agent Jim Beaver, Fluff, Homophobic Language, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Manipulative Jared Padalecki, Marriage Proposal, Medical Inaccuracies, Meet-Cute, Mortician Misha Collins, Older Jared Padalecki, Rich Jared Padalecki, Serial Killer Jared Padalecki, Shy Jensen Ackles, Smut, Top Jared Padalecki, Writer Jensen Ackles, basically all those three tags are related, gory deaths, i ain’t no medical student
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:01:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 35
Words: 126,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23628880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnotherWorld3111/pseuds/AnotherWorld3111
Summary: Life as a general surgeon in New York can be busy, but when a coworker suggests a blind date, Jared figures — why not?Life as a writer is mostly quiet, and for being rather reserved, Jensen is totally fine with that. Really, Felicia, a blind date is totally unnecessary.Except, maybe the date isn’t too bad, because Jared isn’t too bad on the eyes...And Jared is absolutely enamored with Jensen.Hitting it off right away, it’s a whirlwind romance for crime novelist Jensen Ackles, who’s got enough thrills in his life to be perfectly content with the domesticity dating Jared brings.Only, Jared doesn’t just get elbows deep in blood by saving people, but by being the very type of person Jensen writes about.
Relationships: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Series: Ink, Blood, and Bullets [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2178873
Comments: 387
Kudos: 224





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Coral](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4453148) by [Xenodike](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xenodike/pseuds/Xenodike). 
  * Inspired by [Tangled Web](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3548897) by [lightinthehall](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightinthehall/pseuds/lightinthehall). 



> This fic — or. Well. Jared, anyway — was inspired by a few fics I’ve read that helped create the visual I had for Jared while writing this, which are listed above. Do check out those links; those fics are stellar at describing Jared how I could only wish I was able to do so as well
> 
> The actual storyline for this fic, however, was based on the prompt (you know the one) which can be found here: 
> 
> https://www.instagram.com/p/B7xCDcunVCm/?igshid=ub97cgk9xxir
> 
> I‘ve seen the original version so many times and had already been interested as it was, but then when I saw the extended version, I just knew I had to write this... so here we go!
> 
> Many, many, many, many thanks to hpjk_addict, without whom this fic would have had many more typos, and quite possibly wouldn’t be as long as I’ve got it so far by now.  
> Additional thanks to ashtraythief, whom holy shit I can’t believe accepted to check out 2/3s of this and helped point out some major grammar/writing issues or other plot holes  
> And lastly, thanks to pineprin137 as well, for also offering to beta a few chapters  
> Lots of love to you guys, and without further ado, I hope you enjoy ❤️

“I don’t see why this is necessary.” Jensen wasn’t grumbling. He may have been complaining, but only a little. Anyway. He was pretty sure he could be excused, because instead of spending a usual night in, lounging in his favorite sweatpants as he planned out the details for a scene he’d been stuck on for a while now…

“Ooh, you should totally wear this cologne,” Felicia came up behind him, sniffing her wrist, her other hand cradling an awfully familiar looking glass bottle.

“Hey, nuh-uh,” Jensen swiftly grabbed the bottle. She pouted at him, but mercifully made no move to grapple for his expensive cologne. “Mack gifted this to me for special occasions. I’m dressing up for you, but I’m drawing the line here, Red.” He crossed his arms down at her, uncomfortably aware of how the action made the sleeves of his dark green henley pull tightly over his biceps. Great. As if the dark,  _ tight, skinny  _ jeans hadn’t been bad enough.

“Oh, c’mon,” dammit, she was already turning those doe eyes on him, and he mentally cursed as he felt his resolve crumble. Honestly, it was as if, despite not having Mack with him, Felicia having unofficially adopted Jensen as her older brother made up for the lack of a younger sister. “It is a special occasion! And dude, I promise, you will not regret it. Like. At all.” She stated seriously, but all the while, still managing to retain her pleading gaze. 

Jensen swore at his weak will as he felt it slip away like it never even existed. Turning back to the mirror, he mindlessly checked himself out again to avoid looking Felicia in the eye.

“Yeah… tell me all about this set up anyway. Preferably something more than, ‘hot blind date at 7 PM, leave or I’m stealing all your hidden stash of secret and exclusive funko pops,’” Jensen recited from memory. It was certainly enough of a traumatizing text for him to remember it word for word.

Felicia bounded over to his bed to collapse down on it. From the corner of his eye, he could see her still scrutinizing his outfit. If she asked him to change one more time…

“Well. He works at the same hospital I work at, he’s really tall, has dimples, and his name is Jared,” Felicia listed out. Jensen paused, slowly turning around to shoot Felicia an annoyed glare.

“Seriously?”

She shot him a cheeky grin in return, swinging her legs. “Don’t worry, he’s a total puppy. You’ll like him for sure.”

oOo

“There has got to be an easier way to do this.” Jared frowned in displeasure when the arm wouldn’t go into the duffel bag. Groaning aloud in displeasure, he reached for the saw at his side, making quick work in cutting up the limb further so it would fit in the already stuffed duffle bag. Once everything was inside, he zipped the back up, and finally straightened. After God knows how long he’d been hunched over playing Tetris with human parts as the blocks, he gratefully stretched his back out, glancing at the wall clock as he did so.

He froze.

“Shit!” He hissed, bending down again to gather his stuff. He barely had the time, but if he rushed his shower and didn’t spend  _ too  _ long deciding what to wear, he should be able to drop the bag and make it to his date right on time.

Casting one last look around to make sure he hadn’t forgotten any tasks that needed his immediate attention —God bless tarp — Jared turned off the lights and exited the building before locking it down for the night, bag firmly in hand. Whistling, he popped his car’s trunk, making sure the sheets covering the upholstery were in place before placing the bag inside. That done, he closed the trunk, got in his car, and turned it on, immediately lowering the windows. Ruffling through the dashboard, he made sure he had an extra set of those air-freshening trees to hang from his rearview mirror. Tacky and annoying they may have been, but it did get the job done. And with more than enough to last him a while, Jared finally pulled out of the parking lot and drove home.

oOo

One dripping duffel bag dumped in a river later found Jared pulling open a restaurant door with no small amount of trepidation. Give him humans to play 3D puzzles with any day, Jared decided. The anxiety accompanying a blind date that he knew absolutely nothing about, however, had Jared reconsidering his lack of interest in murdering his coworkers. Surely, getting rid of Felicia would be far more beneficial, despite pretty much every other aspect of her personality.

Stepping inside, Jared mentally shook himself, forcing himself to take a deep breath. “ _ Relax,”  _ he told himself. “ _ Take control of the situation. At the very least, you might get to blow off some steam later tonight.”  _ Of the different kind of course. Currently, he was already well satisfied in  _ that  _ department.

“Table for one, sir?” A blonde waitress appeared, holding an iPad, a pleasant smile at the ready.

Jared absently pulled the edges of his long coat to straighten it. “No,” he smiled kindly. “Reservation under the name Padalecki?”

She nodded, tapping away at the iPad before looking back up again, this time smiling in recognition. “Ah, yes, dinner with Mr. Ackles. Right this way, sir.” She led him through the restaurant, nearer to the back area where the booths had more privacy. From behind her, Jared took a moment to appreciate the ambiance of the atmosphere. It was a stark contrast he spent the better part of his evening at, although the current environment was admittedly a lot more restrictive as well.

“Here we are, sir.” The waitress came to a halt at a booth, bringing Jared out of his musings. He swiftly fixed his smile back in place before directing it at her in thanks, and then let his eyes shift to the man already seated there.

And promptly ceased to function, body stuck on shamelessly staring at the Adonis in front of them.

“I’ll leave you to get settled, then. Shall I bring something to drink while you gentlemen decide what to order?” The waitress sounded amused, despite her decent attempt at hiding it. Her voice did manage to jar Jared back to reality, though, if only to sit down. If they were expecting him to reply, well. Too bad. Jared had just found something far more entrancing, and, oh, did Jared  _ likey. _

“Yes, can I get a glass of dry red wine, please?” The man, his date,  _ Jensen _ , finally supplied, and hells below, even his voice was icing on the cake. And Jared was ravenous. 

“That sounds sweet,” Jared managed to utter. “Why don’t we split the bottle?” 

At Jensen’s shy nod, the waitress nodded as well in acknowledgement and  _ finally  _ disappeared. With no more distractions, Jared was utterly thrilled when Jensen turned emerald eyes, glinting gorgeously in the candlelight, onto him with visible shyness.

Jared could have crooned. He so needed to send Felicia a bouquet or something. Maybe something that wished for a long life. Or, a happy one at least, if he was going to try and be realistic.

“So…” Jensen started hesitantly. A quick glance downwards revealed long, elegant fingers twiddling nervously at their menu, and Jared took the hint.

“Do you wanna order first? I don’t know about you, but I could really do with some food — might lessen my chance of screwing this up,” he said with a carefully executed chuckle that displayed the same amount of nervousness Jensen must have been feeling. To his satisfaction, Jensen let out a surprised bark of laughter, even as his eyes — and the line of his shoulders — revealed his relief.

“Yeah, I’m with you there.” An amicable pause settled upon them as they both opened their menus, perusing the contents. It didn’t take long for Jared to decide before he was putting his menu down, not wanting to look away from the gorgeous specimen in front of him any longer. Jesus, only five minutes in and Jared was already well and truly addicted.

As if sensing he was being stared at, Jensen lowered his menu to meet Jared’s eyes. “Have you been here before?” He asked curiously.

Jared shrugged, understanding the implication. “Nah, I just saw the first thing that might be a decent steak and decided to go with that.”

Jensen chuckled, a pleasant sound, and placed his menu down on the table. “Then I think I’m going to have to trust you and brave the maybe-steak as well.”

Jared grinned. He could already feel the easy camaraderie between them, and he could see himself enjoying this date more and more as it went on.

Leaning back in his own seat just as the waitress returned with their bottle of wine, he patiently waited as she showed off the label to their approval before popping the cork and filling their glasses. She took their orders as Jared relayed them, making sure to glance at Jensen for the permissible nod accompanied with a smile. As she jotted down their orders, he took a quick sip — Jensen playing with the stem of his glass — until the waitress was finally out of earshot.

“So—” he began, in perfect synchronization with Jensen. They broke off with a chuckle, Jared gesturing for Jensen to go first. He did, but not without a wonderful flush that had Jared’s gut heating up with dark desire.

“So, what is it you do, exactly?” Jensen asked. “I mean — Felicia just told me you worked at the hospital, but really gave me no other details.”

Jared laughed. “She did that to you too? Man, I thought it was just gonna be me who was gonna be uncomfortably prepared.” He shook his head, still smiling. “I’m a general surgeon down at NYC surgical associates,” he said, with an almost apologetic grin. Jensen looked at him with something akin to awe in his eyes.

“Damn,” he practically breathed out, and then seemed to come back to himself with an increased flush that, this time, went down to his neck and disappeared under the collar of his perfect henley complimenting his perfect eyes. Jensen rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. “Sorry, it’s just that — that’s impressive, the kind of work you gotta do.”

Jared’s smile turned a little confused. “Uh, thanks? It’s actually not like, a main branch of a hospital or anything,” he clarified. “More a… special practice,” he explained. “Anyway, what do you do?”

Intriguingly, Jensen couldn’t seem to meet his eyes. “Oh, I-I’m a writer.”

Jared leaned forward, interest piqued. “Really? What do you write?” he asked eagerly. “Anything I might know?”

Jensen self-consciously smiled, twiddling with his fork. “Uh, no —probably not?” He amended. “I mainly write crime novels and the like.”

Jared quirked an eyebrow. “Oh?”

He looked hesitant to go on, but when all Jared did was nothing but to stare with genuine curiosity in his open eyes, he slowly went on. “You know, murder mysteries and stuff.”

His curiosity turned a tad skeptical, but he hid it. He made to go on, but the waitress returning with their meals silenced him. He still didn’t miss the subtle look of relief on Jensen’s face, and it had the gears swiftly starting to move in his brain.

The blonde set down their plates in front of them, and Jared was sure they both had mirroring looks of gladness when Jared’s gut choice turned out to be perfect. Decorated with veggies but otherwise steaming and overall mouthwatering, Jared pretty much tuned out the waitress placing the bowls of gravy on their table. He looked up in time to thank her before she left, seconds after Jensen, but then they were silent once again as they busied themselves with eagerly digging into their foods. It was once they were a few bites in that Jared spoke again, keeping his tone casual.

“So, murder mysteries,” he began, picking up where they’d left off before the waitress’s arrival had paused their conversation. Jensen stiffened, a subtle shift, but glanced up at Jared inquisitively anyway. “Tell me, metaphorically speaking, if you were to kill someone, how would you do it, then?”

Jensen grinned, looking amused. His voice was indulgent when he responded. “Airshot between the toes,” his cheeky grin still didn’t lose the hint of bashfulness to it, and Jared was beginning to thrum with barely contained energy. “It’ll look like a heart attack, and no one would easily find any signs of otherwise.”

Jared pretended to consider his words, but internally, he was pretty sure fireworks were going off through every single part of his body. Looking back into Jensen’s eyes, he was hit with the overwhelming urge to ditch this dinner entirely, and move things along at an unacceptable pace. Instead, he restrained it all, and gave Jensen an impressed look instead. “Not bad,” he said slowly. “Usually too busy saving lives in a different department, but I can totally see how that would definitely be overlooked by pretty much anyone in my building.”

The response that elicited from Jensen really shouldn’t have surprised Jared, but he found himself struggling to hold himself from pouncing across the table to Jensen all the same.

“It’s a reasonable mistake.” Jensen was blushing — he was totally blushing, wasn’t he? “And if you’re not looking for it, injection sites — especially in the webbing between fingers or toes — can be easily missed,” Jensen explained.

Jared rested his face in his palm, hunched forward to rest his arm on the table. His steak was starting to go cold, but for the first time in his life, Jared might’ve actually found something more worthy than food. “Are you sure I wouldn’t know any of your works?” Jared insisted. “Because if I haven’t read them yet, I need to, like yesterday.”

Jensen stammered, looking back down at his steak. “I-I actually don’t write under my real, full name —I’ve been published as J. Ross, but I doubt—”

“No. Way.” Jared deadpanned. “I know of your books!” He exclaimed. “Mind, I haven’t had the time to read through all of them yet, but I think I might have a single copy of every one of your books waiting for me at home. Dude!” Jared leaned back, as if he needed the shift in position to accompany the new lighting he was seeing Jensen in. “Man, I cannot believe Felicia bagged me a date with the hottest, and most skilled author I could possibly know.” Like the cherry on top, Jensen became tongue tied.

“I wouldn’t go that far—” he tried to say, but Jared wasn’t having it.

“Nope. Call me biased, but you’re definitely my number one favorite author now.”

oOo

It must’ve been the cologne, Jensen reasoned. There was no other possible reason for Mr. Sex-on-legs, ‘I’m  _ just  _ a general surgeon’ to be as enamored with Jensen as he was with Jared. Granted, there were some awkwardly disappointing moments when Jensen was absolutely certain that Jared was humoring him because he’d found out that Jensen was actually a somewhat decent author who managed to be well-known… except, post their conversation about respective occupations, they’d managed to eventually move onto other topics, keeping things lively and even animated as they not only found things to bond over — their home state — but also argue good-naturedly about (Jared may have been heart stoppingly delicious looking, but Jensen was far too loyal to the Dallas cowboys for his opinions to be swayed easily.)

The biggest surprise had to have been, hands-down, when their waitress returned, after a dessert Jensen didn’t even remember eating, much less order, to give them their bill and politely informed the two that they were closing soon. Jensen had gone slack-jawed at that, but he quickly regained his composure in time to argue about who was paying. They ultimately split the bill and finally left, lingering outside in the cool, night air. Too nervous and uncertain to make a move himself, Jensen was thrilled when Jared picked up the slack and asked Jensen for his number, along with the request for another date.

Jensen was all too happy to comply.

But the night didn’t end there, oh no. Like a best-selling romantic novel unlike anything Jensen would write but would never admit to reading, when Jared found out that Jensen was planning on taking an Uber home, he offered him a ride. And who was Jensen to decline that? Sure, ‘stranger-danger!’ flags were waving wildly in the background of Jensen’s head, but, hell. Felicia pretty much vouched for this guy… more or less. So Jensen couldn’t have gotten in Jared’s fancy car fast enough, but arriving at their destination seemed to have no qualms with happening soon as well.

Just when Jensen was pushing past the line of comfort and into awkward territory, procrastinating getting out of the car, Jared reached over, pressed his palm to Jensen’s cheek, making him turn his head from looking at the footwell into Jared’s eyes. And then he leaned further in, and pressed his lips to Jensen’s.

He’d gasped into it before immediately going loose-limbed, closing his eyes and melting into the kiss. It was just a chaste brush of their lips, but it was enough for fireworks to explode behind Jensen’s eyelids, insides melting to molten heat.

When Jared pulled back after what felt like only a scant few seconds, Jensen could only blink blankly, brain devoid of any coherent processing. The corner of Jared’s lips quirked up into an amused smirk, Jensen’s eyes helplessly drawn to it.

After that, he had no idea how he left the car and got inside his house, but when he came to his senses again, he had his back pressed against the front door, hands clutched to his chest like a goddamn love struck teenager. Hell, he wouldn’t have been surprised if he looked into the mirror to see heart eyes looking back at him at that moment. Jensen pushed himself away from his door with a sigh, but he was still absently smiling, thought firmly on Jared as he got ready for bed, his body working on autopilot for him. For the first time in a long time, Jensen’s dreams were replaced that night, soft visuals of Jared’s lips curled upwards in a blindening grin and multicolored eyes pushing away any and all forms of possible crime scenes.

And yet, come next morning, when he habitually opened his laptop, Jensen found the words flowing out of him like it hadn’t in a long while.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m gonna post an additional chapter now instead of Friday, but for future reference, I’m gonna be posting on Sunday and Friday nights (really late nights so probably Saturday and monday at midnight) unless otherwise  
> Also, I’ve got about 48... 49k written and 47 thousand of those words typed up, so y’all dont needa worry about there not being content for a while

“ _ Sooo _ ?” Felicia sidled up beside Jared, eyeing him eagerly with wide eyes. He lowered his clipboard detailing the reports on one of his patients to raise a questioning eyebrow at her. She rolled her eyes and sighed in mock exasperation. “The date!” She exclaimed. As if he could have forgotten. “How’d it go?”

Jared thought back to the previous night, how he’d come so hard at the mental image of Jensen’s luscious lips wrapped around him… “It went great,” he smiled conspiratorially at the redhead and refused to elaborate further. She pouted, visibly dismayed at his silence, but before she could prod him for details she so clearly wanted, someone cleared their throat.

Jared turned around, handing his clipboard to Felicia for her to file as he looked at the woman staring at him expectantly. “May I help you?”

The woman — blonde, dressed provocatively, makeup to an extreme, shining jewelry, and teeth bleached to the point of blindening when she bared them for what apparently passed as a smile, Jared immediately noted — didn’t look like she belonged anywhere near the general surgery unit of the unassuming building they stood at.

“Are you Dr. Paladecki?” She asked, cocking her hips. He resisted the urge to look pointedly down at the nametag on his doctor’s coat, but it was a close thing.

“Dr. Padalecki, yes,” he corrected her with a tight-lipped smile. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

She laughed, fake and shrill, a demure hand fanning herself. “Oh, doctor. There’s just  _ so much _ —”

“Dr.  _ Padalecki _ ,” Felicia’s voice cut in firmly and rather unexpectedly. He turned to find her back behind the front desk, holding a file out to him, but her eyes were pinned in a heated glare on the blonde. “Here’s the information for your next surgery. It’s in less than two hours, by the way,” she needlessly reminded him. Even though it actually wasn’t for another three, and he actually had reports to fill out, but Jared knew precisely what she was doing, and it made the corners of his lips quirk up. Taking the file, he turned back to the blonde, not bothering to hide his smirk.

“I’m sorry,’ he said, but it was clear the words were as fake as the girl’s breasts. “But I’ve got to tend to this.”

“Of course, Doctor,” the girl, whose name he didn’t particularly care much about to find out, simpered, but she was glaring just as hard back at Felicia before morphing it into a sweet grin as she looked at him again. “I was just wanting to know if we could meet up sometime soon… and somewhere private,” she leaned forward to whisper, pushing her cleavage up impossibly further out with the action.

Jared’s eyes didn’t even so much as stray an inch downwards as he responded in a cool voice, “I’m afraid you’ll have to talk to Ms. Day here about scheduling an appointment. I’m sure she’ll be happy to assist fitting you into my calendar at the soonest possible date.” The blonde’s face was undergoing a myriad of emotions, from disappointment, to anger, and to disgust, but she barely had the time to settle for looking hopeful at the prospect of an encounter within the near future before Jared was shooting her one of the smiles he almost never used at the hospital.

Eyes cold and lips pulled into a smile that held even less warmth than his eyes — his mama always told him that eyes could be the windows to a person’s soul, especially with how expressive they could be. At that moment, he knew anyone looking into his eyes would find nothing but haunting emptiness within them — he tipped his head in a mocking salute. “If you’ll excuse me.” Without another word, he turned around, Felicia’s smug smirk clear from the corner of his eyes, and strode down the hallway with long strides easy for his legs, but he knew the blonde would never be able to keep up with. Especially with the precarious stilettos he’d noticed her wearing. It still hadn't given her enough height to come further than his chest, and besides. There was no way she was going to be able to get past Felicia, that he had no doubt of.

Turning into the surgeon’s restrooms, Jared found his mind inevitably wandering back to Jensen, like it had been doing all day. Now there was someone of a more satisfying height… and build, based on the teasingly skintight clothes he’d been wearing last night. Jared definitely wasn’t a small man, absolutely far from it if anything, so it was by default that everyone was considerably lesser than him in stature.

But Jensen… Jensen actually looked like maybe he had a chance and wouldn’t snap in half if Jared used even a little bit of his strength… He redirected his thoughts when he realized he was becoming hard in his scrub pants. He had to let his mind drift around until he landed on something… less inappropriate for his surroundings. Unanticipated, Jared found himself recalling a certain part of their conversation over the candle-lit dinner.

Bouncing the words in his head, he dried his hands as the ditzy blonde popped back into his mind.  _ “And if you’re not looking for it, injection sites — especially in the webbing between fingers or toes — can be easily missed.” _

Jared came to a standstill in the middle of the washroom. Slowly, his mouth was pulled open into a toothy grin as he stared into the distance. Maybe… maybe, Jared would get the opportunity to make his next kill a lot sooner than he’d usually have to.

Exiting the washroom and heading to his office, Jared’s mind whirled around technicalities all the way until he was seated at his desk, but the image of Jensen in his mind kept him company even several hours later, long after he mechanically smiled and let his patient’s family know the surgery went without a hitch.

oOo

_ Greg scrutinized the corpse. It made no sense. The girl was yet another daughter of an affluent family, and the seventh one found dead from a heart attack, just like all the other victims. And like all the other vics, she was in her early twenties, was fit, healthy, and had no reason to show up dead from a heart attack of all things. _

_ The detective growled in frustration. “What do we know again?” He asked irritably, turning to his partner. Looking up wide eyed from his burger, Tom stared at him blankly for a second before snapping to attention. _

_ “Right,” he straightened in his seat, putting away his burger. “Seven female victims, early twenties, all in perfect health. Daughters or related to big CEOs or the like. All disappeared for a night, except it hadn’t been called in initially because no one thought they’d disappeared in the first place for it to be reported as suspicious activity warranting attention.” Tom paused as he pursed his lips in thought. “‘Course, not until they popped up dead the next morning, under an overhead pass in the lower populated areas of the city.” _

_ Greg took a forced inhale, reminding himself for the umpteenth time that nothing would actually improve if he bashed his partner’s head against a desk for having the mind-numbing skill of reciting aloud the words that would only seconds prior run through his own head. Besides, hadn’t more than one of his teachers told him that reciting things aloud helped? _

_ Oh, yeah. It was the same teacher who later sent a kid in his class to the principal because he was ‘caught’ reciting the math formulas in an exam to himself. _

_ “So, to sum it up, we kinda know the perp’s MO, and an idea of his or her hunting grounds and time range, but that’s about it.” _

_ Greg sighed. “And no evidence otherwise except for the corpses?” _

_ “Nope,” Tom popped the letter with an obnoxious smack of his lips. “Nothing except for the corpses,” he repeated— _

Jensen stopped typing with a growl, letting his head drop against the back of his couch. Closing his eyes, he gently rubbed his eyelids with the pads of his fingertips. “This is stupid,” he muttered. Folding his hands under his head, he adjusted his head so that he could glare at his laptop screen despite the awkward angle it set his neck at. His fingers itched to backspace the last two pages entirely, but a part of him stubbornly resisted. Instead, he let his head loll to the side, where his phone innocently stared at him from the cushion.

“Ah, fuck it,” he decided, and scooped up his phone. Thumbing through his contacts, he paused, reconsidering. But then, scrunching his eyes closed, he opened up a new text screen.

**Wed, Aug 21, 10:25 PM**

_ <Hey _

And then promptly rolled his eyes.

**< 10:25 PM ** _ This is Jensen. _

The clock in his living room suddenly sounded louder, each ticking of a second seemingly teasing him as he didn’t get a response with each passing of the hand. He was just starting to stare dubiously at the clock when his phone vibrated in his hand.

**> 10:27 PM ** _ Hey ;) _

Jesus, what the fuck. He was sitting at home doing pretty much nothing now that he wasn’t writing, but one winky face emoticon from a hunk of a man had him blushing bright like a tomato.

**> 10:28 PM ** _ What’s up? _

**< 10:28 PM ** _ Nothing much _

Jensen smacked his forehead. God, what had his life come to? He was a crime novel author, so who decided to make him live the lead in a rom-com?

**< 10:28 PM ** _ Was just writing, but hit a roadblock, so now I’m taking a break. _

Either that was worse, or only better by a margin. Seeing the moving bubbles indicating Jared was typing, Jensen pushed away his laptop. He doubted he was going to be writing again soon, so kicking his feet up on the couch and stretching himself out on the length of it, he made himself comfortable as he waited for a reply.

**> 10:29 PM ** _ Oh? May I ask what you’re working on — provided there aren’t any spoilers? :D _

Jensen huffed, considering.

**< 10:29 PM ** _ Just the detective trying to make sense of things. It’s not like the case has been very forthcoming for him, so it’s already a bit of a complicated mess, but the dialogue’s being all weird too now. _

**> 10:29 PM ** _ Oh dear, I wish there was something I could do to help, but seeing as I’m personally more of a reader than a writer myself…  _

A couple of emojis came through, a man shrugging and a face that looked to Jensen like it was having a mental breakdown. Unbidden, he grinned at the unexpectedly enthusiastic reply. Although, from their single encounter thus far, he had yet to find a topic that didn’t warrant Jared’s complete focus.

**< 10:30 PM ** _ It’s totally fine. I think my brain just needs a break. _

**> 10:30 PM ** _ Ah! _

Jensen tilted his head at his phone.

**> 10:30 PM ** _ There might be something I can do about that. _

Okay… Jensen raised his eyebrows. He wasn’t sure what to say to that, because what the fuck did that mean anyway?

**> 10:30 PM ** _ I know it’s probably late… _

**> 10:30 PM ** _ And maybe you might just have something different in mind… _

“Christ, could he quit it with the suspense already?” Surely, it wasn’t going to be anything crazy. Felicia did set them up, Jensen reminded himself, so Jared couldn’t propose anything too sketchy.

**> 10:30 PM ** _ And it’s okay if you don’t like my suggestion either _

But he could still be a psycho.

> **10:31 PM** _ But I think you should watch a really stupid movie that has you in tears by the end. Because it still makes you laugh so hard you sound like a dying whale. _

Jensen blinked, before carefully typing out a response.

< **10:31 PM** _ That sounds… awfully specific? _

_ > _ **10:31 PM** _ That may be because it might actually be what I do when I can afford to not look through any more reports that, frankly make me want to blow my friggin’ brains out _

_ > _ **10:32 PM** _ But if anyone asks, I totally didn’t say that _

He stared. Was he reading this correctly? Because this… Jensen could safely say, whatever he’d been expecting, this surely wasn’t it. His lack of a response must have taken longer than expected, though, and triggered something on Jared’s end, because his phone was already buzzing yet again, bringing Jensen’s attention back to the words on the screen.

> **10:32 PM** _ Don’t let my credentials or other recognitions fool you _

> **10:32 PM** _ I’ve probably ditched my reports even when I couldn’t afford to _

> **10:32 PM** _ It’s more a wonder that I still have a job over my hair _

> **10:32 PM** _ Because of how much hair I’ve probably been pulling out since my foray into med school _

> **10:32 PM** _ But that too, I guess. Depending on what you’re asking. _

> **10:32 PM** _ I should probably shut up now? _

With a shake of his head, Jensen typed out a reply before Jared could get any wrong signals.

< **10:32 PM** _ Do you have any suggestions? _

Typing…

> **10:33 PM** _ Oh man, do I? XD Buckle yourself up, young padawan, because I’m gonna introduce you to my personal list of top ten films perfect for making your brain pack up and go on vacay _

Jensen snorted aloud. Was this man for real? Regardless, he found himself shuffling around anyway, until he was more comfortable. Now laying completely on his back and holding his phone above his face, Jensen grinned.

< **10:33 PM** _ Hit me with all the best you’ve got, Jay _

oOo

Ironically, Jensen didn’t get around to watching any movies that night. But he did fall asleep halfway through their texted conversation that had carried through until roughly somewhere past two in the morning. When Jensen woke up later the next day, he flustered when he realized what he’d done, but any possibilities for concern were swiftly washed away when he checked his phone.

**Thurs, Aug 22, 2:23 AM**

_ Jensen? _

_ I’m assuming you fell asleep. _

_ Damn, I apologize for keeping you up so late _

_ But I have to say, I still had a wonderful time talking with you, I can’t say I’m too surprised that the time flew by so quickly. _

**2:24 AM** _ I hope we can do this again… but I should probably sleep as well _

_ Sweet dreams, Jens. xxx _

oOo

As a general surgeon who freelanced as a serial killer, Jared was a busy man. While he got to squeeze in a couple of dates after their late night texting session, he was soon sucked back into the life of relentless, back-to-back surgeries. Because of that, he was reduced to texting Jensen between reports to even maintain some semblance of contact. As a writer who mostly worked from home and rarely ever ventured outside, Jared would almost always receive instantaneous replies from Jensen, which, either led Jared dangerously close to losing track of time, or coming back to his phone with a message waiting to be opened. A Pavlov's reaction, Jared began smiling whenever he saw Jensen’s name lighting up the screen of his phone. It didn’t go unnoticed by his coworkers, and even if all Felicia did was to smile knowingly, tilting her chin up in pride at her successful matchmaking skills, Jared could only assume, Misha definitely wasn’t the kind of person to let it go.

Case in point — “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile this much. Or, not like this. Ever.” Instantly, said smile slipped away as Jared pretty much glared up at Misha. Looking entranced with avid horror and fascination combined on his dramatic ass, Misha was undeterred, despite being the recipient of a glare that could’ve been a precursor to getting his gallbladder ripped out under other circumstances. “Like, you smile at your patients, or their families, friends, whatever. But it’s always so plastic -- like a mask specifically taught for people going into the medical field but unable to personally express any empathy.” Jared’s eyes narrowed dangerously, but Misha was clearly in his element. “You, with your phone though? It’s as if you finally took a page out of my book and subscribed to all the cat videos on youtube! From being psychopathically blank to grinning like you’ve attained Nirvana — the change! It’s a—” Misha adopted his ever-famous ‘Indian-Russian’ accent, “—Medical miracle!” 

His glare dissipated as Jared let out a snort, shaking his head, but he refused to say anything.

Misha huffed, clearly recognizing that Jared’s silence wasn’t something he was going to budge on. “Spoilsport.” He jumped off the table he’d been sitting on, grabbing his clipboard off the torso laying on it. Long accustomed to Misha’s weirdness and unusual comfort with sharing spaces with corpses, Jared didn’t bat an eyelash as Misha sympathetically tapped the corpse’s arm. “Cause of death: heart attack during overconsumption of pizza. While I can’t relate, you’ve done good, sir.” Signing off on the report on his own clipboard, Jared hung it on the table of the other corpse still out in the center of the room, beside the one Misha was examining. Or, supposed to, anyway.

“Catch you later, Mish,” he saluted him as he left the mortuary. 

“I will become privy to your secrets soon, Padalecki!” Misha yelled to his retreating back. While having the creepy ability to make the sentence too true, Jared wasn’t concerned. After all, didn’t he already establish Misha’s weird ease with corpses? There definitely wasn’t any lack of psychopathic tendencies there, either. And while he didn’t seem like he’d be the kind to bother hiding his oddness as much as Jared had to put in the effort to hide his own…  _ tendencies _ , Jared wouldn’t have been surprised if some of the corpses in their mortuary were put there by Misha himself.

Unlocking his phone, Jared ignored all his other notifications — mostly work related emails, much to his growing exasperation — and tapped directly onto the text from Jensen.

**> Tues, Sept 3, 2:13 PM**

_ Cats _

Jared quietly chuckled. 

< **2:47 PM** _ Dude, dogs all the way _

He took a moment to look up, pushing a door open to let himself into his office and settle down behind his desk before looking at his phone again.

**> 2:47 PM ** _ Cats _

Leaning back in his chair, Jared kicked his legs up onto his desk. It wasn’t like there was anyone watching to call him out. 

< **2:48 PM** _ Cats are lazy and barely do anything. You need a dog in your life to get you up and moving. _

> **2:48 PM** _ Uh, have you met me? Cats are perfect — they’ll leave me alone and in peace to write _

_ < _ **2:48 PM** _ On the contrary. You need some sunshine, sunshine. _

Bubbles bounced up and down, sporadically disappearing whenever Jensen outright stopped texting. Jared grinned wildly. With the cover of a screen to hide behind, Jensen got to be even more outspoken than his usual, initial demure self. So catching him off guard was all the more precious that it already could have been for Jared.

> **2:49 PM** _ That was lame _

Jared remained unfazed.

< **2:49 PM** _ What can I say, sweetheart? You make my brain stop working _

_ > _ **2:50 PM** _ That’s concerning, coming from a surgeon _

_ > _ **2:50 PM** _ But I still stand by what I said _

_ > _ **2:50 PM** _ Cats are a true best friend _

Jared put his legs down, childish glee making him want to rub his hands together as he pulled out his ultimate trump card to prove to Jensen the amazingness that were dogs.

< **2:50 PM** _ See, that’s going to be a problem _

_ < _ **2:50 PM** _ I haven’t even told them yet, and I can already see Harley and Sadie’s disappointment _

_ > _ **2:50 PM** _ … _

_ > _ **2:50 PM** _ Who now? _

He could have responded with words, but Jared was having too much fun playing with Jensen here. So, he switched to his photo app instead, scrolling through his photos before finding a suitable picture. Two seconds after sending it, before Jensen could even receive it, Jared decided to go just a little bit further.

< **2:51 PM** _ My dogs, of course _

Followed by an emoji of a yellow face giving what Jared deemed an accurate representation of puppy eyes. Perfect for the situation.

Jensen’s response came through several long seconds later.

> **2:52 PM** _ Son of a bitch _

> **2:52 PM** _ You have two dogs?!?! _

> **2:52 PM** _ Why hasn’t this come up before??? _

Jared bit his lip with a sharp tooth. 

< **2:52 PM** _ So… is this a deal breaker then?  _

As if he’d let Jensen go that easily. But he had an appearance to uphold and all that.

> **2:53 PM** _ Fuck _

_ < _ **2:53 PM** _ ‘Cuz I was hoping to introduce you to them, They mean so much to me, you know? Been with me through tough times and all that…  _

_ > _ **2:53 PM** _ Fuck _

_ < _ **2:53 PM** _ But if you don’t like dogs… _

_ > _ **2:53 PM** _ Fuck. Just. Oh my god. _

_ > _ **2:53 PM** _ Gimme a couple of mintues while I read through our messeas to see how badly I’ve insulted fogs and how much damge control is needed _

**> 2:53 PM ** _ minutes* _

_ > _ **2:53 PM** _ messages** _

_ > _ **2:53 PM** _ dogs*** _

_ > _ **2:54 PM** _ damage**** _

Jared snorted. 

< **2:54 PM** _ :’D it’s okay _

_ > _ **2:54 PM** _ Duck no. Nuh-uh _

> **2:53 PM** _ Fuck* _

_ > _ **2:54 PM** _ I’m looking up how to interact with dogs for dummies before I come over _

_ < _ **2:54 PM** _ :D xoxoxo _

_ > _ **2:54 PM** _ Fuck what have I gotten msyelf into _

_ < _ **2:54 PM** _ ;) _

oOo

**Fri, Sept 6, 8:39 AM**

_ See! That wasn’t so bad! _

_ Well, except for the fact that I think my dogs like you better than me now _

_ But, see! Nothing you had to worry so much about! _

**8:40 AM** _ Jare _

_ Too earl. Steep. Test later. _

**8:40 AM** _ LOL! _

_ Sweet dreams, Jens xxx _

**9:36 PM** _ Hey, do you think you’d be willing to dogsit my babies while I attend the 2-day conference thing this Sunday? _

**9:36 PM** _ Conference? What conference?? _

**9:37 PM** _ The one in Maine? I told you about it last night? _

**9:37 PM** _ Oh yeah _

**9:37 PM** _...so… is that a yes then? :) _

**9:37 PM** _...fine _

**9:37 PM** _ Thanks, sweetheart xoxo _

**9:38 PM** _ Shut up and go save lives, Dr. Padalecki _

**9:38 PM** _ ;) _

oOo

**Tues, Sept 10, 7:44 PM**

_ It’s official _

_ My dogs like you better than me now _

_ I’m almost offended :( _

_ They won’t stop pawing at my door and whining pitifully _

_ They want you _

_ Wasn’t I the one who was gone for two days? _

_ Jensen. What did you do to my dogs. They’re supposed to be loyal creatures! _

**7:46 PM** _ Lol. Your dogs clearly have better taste _

**7:46 PM** _ Well, I can’t blame them there _

**7:46 PM** _ Personally, the cookies look blander than cardboard, but they seemed to worship it, so *shrugs* _

**7:47 PM** _ JENSEN! _

_ How many dog treats did you give them?! _

**7:47 PM** _ :D _

_ Hey, I was in my writing zone! _

**7:47 PM** _ JENSEN!  _

**7:47 PM** _ Relax, cowboy. I took them on walks. _

**7:48 PM** _!!!!! _

oOo

**Wed, Sept 11, 9:27 AM**

_ You know what… _

_ I think I’ll keep your dogs :D _

**9:55 AM** _?!?!  _

**9:56 AM** _ I mean, not that I’m complaining about the change of heart, but woah there _

_ I feel like this needs more discussing _

**9:58 AM** _ It’s simple _

_ I work from home _

_ You don’t _

_ Therefore, it makes more sense for the dogs to be with me ;) _

**10:00 AM** _ Why do I feel like there’s a mutiny occurring? _

**10:00 AM** _ That sounds like a you problem :D _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please lmk what you think by leaving a comment – i suck at responding to them right away, but i promise i do read them and they give me life (and encourage me to write more and post my work too so theres that)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited chapter 1, location of Jared’s workplace. He works at NYC Surgical associates, which isn't exactly a hospital tho it is referred to as such. It's actually the kind of place youd need to book appointments for to get into, specifically surgically related, so emergency drops in aren't for the type of place
> 
> (06/27) on that note, a lot of the places in this fic has been researched to the best of my abilities while i sit on the other side of the country, so I'll anytime there's a specific name of a place feel free to google it! like where Jared lives which will come up later, and chapter one's notes will include jensen's address (FOR THIS FIC NOT IRL) by tonight :)
> 
> Disclaimer alert: I have no medical knowledge, don’t know how the publishing process works, nor do I know the machinations of murdering someone. Basically, I’ve taken certain liberties so please excuse any medical inaccuracies and please don’t hold me accountable
> 
> EDIT 2 as of June 27: this fic is going under some major reconstruction, mostly with plot inconsistencies and the like. so I'll be reposting this until everythings fixed. Keep an eye on the fic's summary -- once the bottom note about this being under construction is removed, you can safely assume there wont be any more major changes you might wanna go back to check on

Harley was already standing at the door, almost impatient as he waited for Jensen to hurry up. Sadie, however, was glued to Jensen’s side, a warm presence as he crouched down to tie his shoelaces. Both dogs were waving their tails wild enough to kick up a storm, and Jensen smiled at their enthusiasm.

Shifting to the side, he was just about to finish tying up his other shoe when there was a knock on the door. Jensen lifted his head, raising his eyebrows. Right away, Harley and Sadie had stilled, staring at the front door with frightening intensity, their tails ceasing their wagging as well.

Rolling his eyes — but secretly touched at the display of protectiveness — Jensen stood, walking to the door and looking through the peephole. He barely needed a glance before he was stepping back to pull the door open, Harley leaping out of the way.

“Well, if it isn’t Jensen friggin’ Ackles, fucking finally.” He was pulled into a rough hug, chin knocking into a shoulder, hands clapping his back hard enough to make his teeth chatter. “Where the everloving hell have you been, man?”

Jensen pushed himself back, holding the man by his shoulders at arm length to get a proper look at his friend. “Christian friggin’ Kane,” Jensen retorted. “You’re one to talk. I’m always ‘round here doing what I do — meanwhile, you dropped off the face of the earth, man!” He exclaimed incredulously, although without any real heat to his words.

“Aw, man. I can’t wait to tell you all about it.” He pushed past Jensen to enter the house, still talking. “Africa’s no prude when it comes to—” he came to an abrupt halt, both in speech and pace. Jensen, who’d been closing the door before turning to follow Chris, almost collided with the back of his friend.

“Chris?”

“What. The. Hell?” Jensen peeked over Chris’s shoulder, grinning when he saw what had caught Chris’s attention. Harley and Sadie were both sitting side-by-side in front of them, staring curiously at the newcomer. Jensen was pleased to note the lack of hostility in the dog’s posture, unlike when Chris’s identity had remained unknown whilst still behind a closed door.

“Oh!” Jensen said brightly. “Chris — meet Harley and Sadie.” Still sitting, Sadie let out a loud bark at the sound of her name. Harley didn’t have the same reservations, standing and coming to sniff at Chris’s boots. Staring dubiously, Chris looked seconds away from turning on his heels and bolting.

“Jensen,” Chris said conversationally. “Why are there mutts in your house?”

Jensen rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. He sidestepped Chris to crouch beside the dogs, who bounded over to him, clearly vying for attention. “First off, don’t call them that,” he said. “Second, I’m dog-sitting.”

He could feel Chris staring holes into his back. “Dog-sitting?” Chris repeated faintly. “Since when do you even like dogs?”

Jensen exhaled.  _ No time like the present… _ “Since I started dating a guy with them.”

Silence was the only response he got for several seconds, to the point that Jensen, concerned, turned around.

Chris was still staring at Jensen like he’d grown two heads. “We have a lot to catch up on, don’t we?” He finally said. Jensen gave him a sheepish smile. 

oOo

**Fri, Sept 20, 11:20 AM**

**11:20 AM** _ Hey _

_ Wanna meet somewhere? There’s someone I want you to meet _

**11:58 AM** _ Don’t tell me you got a cat just to spite me _

**11:58 AM** _ Haha, no _

_ Although, that’s not entirely a bad idea… except I don’t know how Harley and Sadie might like that. Plus, I’m still trying to adjust to these two animals in my life right now, anyway _

**11:59 AM** _ For what it’s worth, I’d say you’re doing a good job so far. Hell, more than. _

**11:59 AM** _ Why, thank you _

_ But anyway, no. No cats _

_ The person I want to introduce you to is 100% human, I guarantee you _

_ Although there are times when it could be questionable _

**12:00 PM** _ I don’t know which part I want to address first. _

_ Does that mean you know people who aren’t 100% human? _

**12:00 PM** _ I wish _

_ Who knows _

_ Maybe Sadie is like, at least 15% human _

**12:01 PM** _ That… I actually don’t know what to say to that. _

**12:01 PM** _ You’re right _

_ She’s at least 45% human. Compared to Harley anyway _

_ So, how about a time and place? _

**12:43 PM** _ I get off around 4 today… _

_ 5 PM, Arts and Crafts Beer Parlor? _

**12:43 PM** _ We’ll see you there :) _

oOo

Jared had actually gotten off at two, not that Jensen needed to know that tiny detail. But it gave him the time to shower and change into something more comfortable — while still making an impression — before leaving for the bar. Noting the time to be a minute before five on his Rolex, Jared entered the bar with his head held high. He had the sense to never say it aloud, but the truth was, he was Jared Tristan Padalecki, and he’d be damned if anyone thought they could ever best him. In any way possible. And Jensen may have been an exception, but not whoever Jensen was going to introduce Jared to. Even if the person might be important to Jensen. Because it wasn’t like some random person’s opinion was going to be enough to keep Jared away from Jensen now.

So walking further inside, he was quick to locate Jensen in a booth at the corner, facing the door. From the bits and details he’d gleaned off of Jensen’s body language — especially when it was generally a far better indicator of the truth — rather than outspoken languages, his selection made perfect sense to Jared, and he could find himself growing fonder at their shared preference in even seating arrangements, though Jensen probably didn’t know that yet.

What he wasn’t too happy to find was the sight of Jensen hunched over the table, head close to whoever was seated across from him, and clearly in a heated conversation that must’ve contributed to, if not been the sole reason of Jensen having yet to notice Jared’s arrival. Without bothering to announce himself, Jensen ended up only noticing his presence when Jared was a mere feet away. The undeserving anger rising within Jared was mostly pushed away when, immediately, Jensen broke out into a breathtaking grin.

“Jay!” He reached a hand out that Jared was all too happy to take, bending down to press a chaste but slightly lengthy kiss to Jensen’s lips before pulling back to slide into the booth beside Jensen. Despite being as red as the coasters on their table, Jensen easily shifted to accommodate Jared by giving him enough space to sit down, but still leaving Jared with Jensen plastered to his side. Not one to let an opportunity go to waste, Jared slipped an arm around Jensen’s waist, and pulled him snug against his side.

Jared lifted his gaze to finally regard the man watching them with cool eyes. “Name’s Jared.” He said, smiling the way Misha dubbed to be his Joker mask. “Pleasure to meet you. You a friend of Jensen’s?”

The man slowly blinked, before giving a smile of his own, just as fake, but poorly concealed in Jared’s opinion. “Christian Kane, Jensen’s best friend,” he shot him a victorious smirk when Jared had to essentially untangle himself from Jensen to shake the man’s hand, but he didn’t let it faze him in the slightest, still keeping his outward demeanor cool and unresponsive to the taunts that were sure to come with rising intensity. “Nice to meet you, too.”

One solid grip, a single shake, and it was Christian who surprisingly — or unsurprisingly — didn’t let go. The pressure of his grip tightened, but if Jared was in any less control of his expressions, he’d have laughed aloud. As if this punk who probably didn’t even reach his chin could possibly imagine hurting Jared.

Instead, he merely raised his eyebrows at their still joined hands. “I’m gonna need that back,” he said, letting his Texan accent slip through enough to give his words a lazy drawl. “Now, preferably.”

From beside him, Jensen let out a muttered, “Chris…” Jared was rather affronted that it was that that made Chris let go, but whatever. He was not going to get worked up over this pint-sized human.

With a pleasant smile plastered back onto his face, he wrapped his arm around Jensen again. “So, best friends, huh? How did you meet?” Yes, he already wasn’t impressed at all by the man… but Jared was honestly curious about every minute detail about Jensen.

Too bad Chris didn’t seem to share the enthusiasm. “Childhood friends,” he replied dismissively. “The real question here is,” he leaned forward, resting his arms on the table and pinning Jared with a hard glare. “How did you meet my Jenny-boy here?”

Jared raised his eyebrows, momentarily sidetracked. “‘Jenny-boy?’” He repeated, tone belying his disbelief as he looked over at Jensen. Jensen, in turn, flushed, but it didn’t strike Jared with the same thrill as usual… maybe because Jensen looked genuinely annoyed, on the verge of anger, even.

“I told you not to call me that.” He growled at Christian, and, oh. Yes. That, was a sound that reignited the sparks that should’ve occurred a mere second earlier. Jared mentally hummed. Looks like kitty’s got claws. Jared couldn’t  _ wait _ for the time and opportunity to be able to play with that.

Christian wasn’t saying anything. Actually, it was as if he was blatantly ignoring Jensen, and Jared found himself indignantly fuming on Jensen’s behalf. At his side, Jensen had gotten a little stiff, and was looking anywhere but at Jared.

Jared forced himself to take a deep breath. Better to move the conversation along, rather than decking Jensen’s friend like he wanted to, and Jensen probably wouldn’t appreciate that no matter the circumstances. “A mutual friend who I work with set us up on a blind date,” he said, answering the question.

“And… I’m sorry, what do you work as?” Someone should hire this man for a drama. Jared couldn’t remember the last time someone sounded so condescending towards him. Which, in hindsight, was probably a good thing. For them, if there were any.

“Dude, I told you!” Jensen cut in. “Jared works as a general surgeon. NYC Surgical Associates, yeah, Jay?” He cast a soft smile at Jared, and it was such a jarring contrast — from Jensen’s texting persona, the snarky ass that wasn’t taking any shit from Christian — that Jared’s fingers subconsciously tightened his grip on Jensen’s waist. Right away, he let go before Jensen could so much as hiss in pain.

Later, though… later, he’d pry out his kitty’s true nature.

Externally, not a single one of his thoughts expressed itself on Jared’s face. “That’s right,” he replied sweetly to Jensen before turning his focus back onto Christian. “And you? I’m sorry, but Jensen hasn’t really told me much about you.” Polite and courteous, if there was an award to be won, Jared would walk home with all the Oscars they could offer, but the actual victory was when Christian was visibly taken off guard.

He blinked. “Musician,” he answered shortly. “Travelling across the country to perform. It was why I wasn’t informed about Jensen’s relationship status until very recently, actually.” He shot a pointed glance at Jensen, who rolled his eyes.

“Phones exist. You should try checking yours sometime.”

Jared didn’t say anything, as at that moment, a waitress finally came over to their table, carrying a tray with two drinks on it. Noticing Jared, she greeted him and swiftly took his order.

“So what kind of music do you play?” Jared asked once the waitress left, before Christian could get a word in first.

“Guitar. How long have you been a surgeon?”

“Oh my god,” Jensen buried his face in his hands, Jared automatically rubbing his back consolingly. A game of twenty questions was honestly one of the better alternatives, so Jared was careful to maintain the lightheartedness on his side as he responded. And without any further interjection from Jensen, they went back and forth like that, only taking a pause whenever the waitress came by with a refill. Jared nursed his single drink, hiding small smiles into his glass whenever Jensen did cut in — usually to snarkily retort to something Christian would say.

Annoyingly, Christian was more tight-lipped about Jensen than Jared expected. He guessed the man must’ve had some redeeming features to be friends with Jensen, and Jared could only be torn between being reluctantly admiring and irked that it was some serious loyalty that was the pros to Christian Kane. Although, c’mon, shouldn’t he have been willing to share at least one embarrassing story? If they were childhood stories, then there must’ve been an abundance — unless, of course, it was the other way around. Jared didn’t really care to know about Christian in particular… but who knows? Maybe Jensen would be more willing to entertain him, and he could end up having a good laugh out of this after all.

But admittedly, Jared wasn’t ignorant to assume Christian wasn’t sharing stories despite being all ‘buddy-buddy’ now. While their conversation had gotten more civilized with an added bonus of a drop of thinly veiled insults, Jared knew he was still on the fence in Christian’s opinion.

Not that it mattered. While Jared could tell Jensen wanted them to get along, maybe even have Christian’s blessings for their relationship depending on how close their friendship really was, he’d ultimately voiced his resignation himself, to having to bear witness to their immature rivalry.

Jared was already planning to get Jensen for calling him immature, and for grouping him with the likes of Christian. Though, he probably wouldn’t tell Jensen the last part.

However, there was only so long Jared was willing to play nice. Thankfully, whether by somehow sensing Jared’s growing impatience, or an awareness of the time, Jensen took advantage of the blessed moment of silence that passed by whenever Christian took a sip of his drink, even though his ‘sips’ had admittedly grown longer as he’d gotten progressively drunker.

“Alright,” Jensen eyed his friend warily. Christian was staring rather despondently down his empty glass, a more moderately tipsy Jensen having waved off the waitress from refilling his glass several rounds ago. “We should get going now.” He abruptly winced, looking apologetically over at Jared. “God, you’ve come from work and we kept you for so long—”

“Hey,” Jared softly cut him off. “It’s okay. I wanted to see you, and I’m glad I did.”

“Even after Chris gave you the third-degree and is now making an absolute fool of himself?” Jensen asked dryly. They both ignored Christian’s drunken protest.

Jared chuckled. “Even after that,” he readily admitted. Jensen hummed, closing his eyes and tucking his head against Jared’s shoulder.

“Still. We should leave. Especially before Chris falls asleep. Or pukes. Oh, god, he better not puke. I wasn’t gonna lug his heavy ass around if he falls asleep, but if he vomits, then I don’t know the guy.”

Jared snorted, pressing a kiss to the top of Jensen’s head, his hair soft despite being gelled upward into spikes that tickled at Jared’s chin. “I can give you a ride,” he offered. Jensen pulled back to peer at him curiously.

“You’re fine to drive?”

“Well, I came in my car, so yeah. Didn’t really finish my drink ‘cause I planned on driving back home,” he said. Jensen continued to stare at Jared for a few seconds. Just as Jared was debating on asking if Jensen had fallen asleep with his eyes open, Jensen shrugged, tucking himself back against Jared.

“Okay. You’re the doctor… Doctor.” Jensen quietly giggled to himself, and maybe he was a little more drunk than Jared thought. Either way, his heart was only threatening to melt with fondness for the man currently clinging to him like a limpet. It made getting out of their booth a little difficult, but once Jensen got with the program, he managed to stand by himself, enough to focus on rousing Christian and extricating him from his seat while Jared settled their tab. Jared might’ve tipped the waitress more than average, but he hadn’t missed how she’d clearly been giving them their privacy while still tending to them everytime Christian’s glass got empty. And ultimately, he mentally thanked her for giving him a drunk Christian to deal with. Sober Christian would’ve undoubtedly gotten real tiring, real quick.

He nodded his head to her, letting Jensen lean on him instead of supporting Chris as they exited the bar. Outside, the cold air was a refreshing jolt to his senses, and he took a moment to breathe in the fresh air, absently noticing Jensen doing the same thing beside him. Christian ambled on past them, lost in his own world. With a sigh, Jared called out to him before the idiot walked into oncoming traffic. Not that he cared, but he figured it would be in his best interest to not traumatize Jensen and all that. So, shouting out directions, “—left, Jesus. No. The parking lot —  _ left! _ ” he took a second to remind himself to be grateful that at least the man was coherent enough to follow directions while on his own two feet.

Christian tripped, stumbling, and walked headfirst into a streetlight. Even Jared couldn’t help but wince at that. Okay, so maybe he was somewhat coherent. But Jared wasn’t going to warn him of shit that even a two-year-old could maneuver around, honestly.

They did eventually reach Jared’s car in one piece and without any bloodshed. And  _ wasn’t that a first, _ Jared thought wryly. Jensen came to long enough to help Christian into the backseat before getting into the passenger seat up front without any prompting. The scene was strangely pleasing to Jared. Rounding the car, he wasted no time starting up the engine.

“Where to?” He asked Jensen as he pulled out of the parking lot. Jensen hummed. In a car with the relatively safety and privacy of only being surrounded by Jared and — actually, a quick glance in the rearview mirror revealed Christian out for the count, so he didn’t count — no longer being in public meant that Jensen had immediately slumped in his seat, eyes closed and gradually getting to losing conscious himself as he rested his head against the window.

“Onward and beyond, past the North star, to home sweet home,” Jensen mumbled, not opening his eyes, so he didn’t see Jared glancing at him and then into the rearview with surprise.

“Chris staying with you?”

Jensen hummed in the positive, but didn’t say anything. Jared’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Their destination arrived all too soon, and Jared shot a glance at Christian through the rearview for the last time. The man was completely plastered, snoring and drooling — onto his shirt, and not Jared’s leather seats.

Jared turned in his seat, and his gaze unwittingly softened. Jensen was also completely out, but at some point, he’d curled up against the door, neck possibly at an uncomfortable angle with his head still resting against the window.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Jared kept his voice low, reaching a hand out to gently stroke Jensen’s cheek. He grumbled, eyes flickering under closed lids, frowning. “We’re home, Jens. C’mon, let’s get you in.” He was highly tempted to just leave Christian in the car, but the need to get him out of his car was easily bigger, so letting Jensen doze just a little longer, Jared took his keys from Jensen’s pocket and unlocked the door, making quick work of dumping Christian unceremoniously onto the living room couch.

Returning to his car, he was far more careful with his priceless cargo, swooping Jensen into his arms in a bridal carry. Carrying him all the way up to his bedroom, while a part of Jared yearned to go all out and scrutinize every part of the room Jared hadn’t been in before, he refrained, focused on setting Jensen gently down on his bed instead. Jensen immediately curled up on his side, making Jared huff, but he still got down onto his knees and began removing Jensen’s shoes. Setting them off to the side, he began removing Jensen’s jeans as well. He didn’t drink in the sight of Jensen’s bared legs with greedy, hungry eyes like he wanted to. Rather, he somehow managed to exude self-restraint he’d never been aware that he had and kept his eyes on the denim fabric, and when Jensen was just in boxer-briefs and a casual henley, he gently continued moving Jensen around so that he could tuck him in under his covers. Standing, Jared made one last, quick, pitstop, rifling through Jensen’s ensuite bathroom cabinets until he found what he was looking for. When he returned to Jensen’s room, he set the glass of water and a bottle of aspirin on the nightstand beside him, even though he doubted Jensen’s hangover would be too bad. Not like what Christian was going to go through the next morning, that was for sure.

If Christian —  _ when  _ Christian woke up the next morning, whatever raging symptoms he was going to undergo? Not Jared’s problem. And really, Jensen could just toss the bottle of aspirin to him. The thought of simply putting the aspirin bottle by Christian instead didn’t even cross Jared’s mind.

Making sure he hadn’t missed anything else otherwise, Jared turned to leave, when Jensen’s sleep thick voice stopped him. “Jay?”

Right away, he was on his knees beside Jensen’s bed, softly brushing Jensen’s hair, spikes long since given way to natural fluffiness, away from his forehead. “Hey, sweetheart.”

Jensen smiled, a hand rising from under the blanket to latch onto Jared’s hand and firmly tucking it under his head. He hummed happily. 

Jared sat down in a half crouch, unmoving despite his knees yelling bloody murder as the time went by. Eventually, Jensen let out a soft snore, and trusting he wouldn’t wake this time, Jared slowly pulled his hand free.

He left without looking back, silent and gone unnoticed by either man as he exited the house.

The next morning, Jared received a single text before he was about to begin cleaning up for surgery.

**Sat, Sept 21, 11:07 AM**

_ Thanks. _

Smiling, Jared turned his phone off and put it away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for character death in this chapter

“Please, you don’t have to do this,” the girl frantically pled. “J-Just let me go. I won’t tell anyone, I swear.”

Jared sighed, rolling his eyes. Why did he forget to gag the girl? Their death cries were one thing. The bargaining could even be amusing. Hers, on the other hand, was just too shrill and irksome for some reason. 

His phone vibrating in his pocket reminded him why. Turning his back to the blonde, he ignored her blubbering cries as he unlocked the screen.

**Mon, Sept 30, 4:04 PM**

_ Anyway _

_ Wanna come over tonight? I need a break _

Jared grinned.

**4:04 PM** _ Your wish is my command _

A follow-up message came through immediately.

**4:05 PM** _ Shut up _

Smirking to himself, Jared set his phone back down. No matter how fervently Jensen would deny it, the fact remained that his boyfriend was an absolute sucker for chick-flicks. 

A thrill went through Jared.  _ Boyfriends.  _ They’d been going out on dates for a while now, Jared in love with every moment of it. Surprisingly, Christian’s departure off to wherever it was he went, referring it all to ‘hitting the road,’ really cemented the fact that they were now a ‘thing.’ The man leaving Jensen’s house back to Jensen alone made for a wonderful evening where they fell asleep watching movies together — hence, Jared’s discovery over Jensen’s preference for the rom-coms that was such a stark contrast from what he wrote — and come morning?

Jared hadn’t understood why mornings could be so special until he opened his eyes to see Jensen’s sleeping face inches away from his. His back had been crying at having been subjected to a couch for an entire night, but it was all swept under the rug when Jared got to experience what it was like waking Jensen up with soft kisses that day. Adorably shy, but should he get started on any subject he was passionate about, and there Jared unearthed yet another aspect of Jensen’s personality, one that was far too invested in the matter to be self-conscious. And it was only one of the many layers to him, which Jared found to be a delectable challenge, unlayering each one.

Bringing himself back to the present, he turned back around to face the blonde. It was the bimbo who tried to come onto him at NYC, and who never did get an appointment with him, courtesy of Felicia.

“God, I’m so sorry,” she was saying now. Her face was streaming black from tears ruining her eyeliner and mascara. Wasn’t that shit supposed to be waterproof? Either way. To Jared, she looked thoroughly revolting at that moment. Ideally, a mess of blood would’ve really balanced the scene out, but…

Picking up the needle, he bent down onto his knees in front of the restrained girl. “Oh, darling,” he crooned up at her. “It’s nothing personal.” It really wasn’t. She was just convenient. Her struggling, renewed with fervor as Jared slipped off one of her heels, was pretty much useless too, the ropes binding her to the chair not allowing any leeway. He’d give her points for effort at least, with how even her toes wriggled as he brought the needle closer. “But you see, I’ve been wanting to try this technique for a while now… so. Congratulations.” He gave her a winning smile, her foot easily cradled in one of his large hands, muscles unrelenting. “You’re my first test subject.” He pressed down on the plunger, the girl’s whimpers and cries like music to his ears.

oOo

“Hey, babe,” Jared called out as he let himself in. He got a distracted greeting in return, so toeing off his shoes, he followed the source of the noise until he found his boyfriend at the kitchen island, locked in a heated battle of stares with his laptop. Pressing a kiss to the side of Jensen’s head, he put the carry-out bag he was holding at the center of the island.

“Jay?” Jared hummed, moving around smoothly around Jensen’s kitchen, taking out plates and cutlery for the both of them. “How long would it take to die if you were to potentially stab someone in the guts?” He had his hands in his hair, tone close to hysterics. It was a far cry from his latest vic’s pleas — Jensen’s voice begging Jared for help? Had Jared clenching his fists to control himself for entirely different reasons, hiding his hands where Jensen couldn’t see, and reminding himself to be patient.

“Anywhere from two to thirty minutes,” he replied easily, once he’d gotten himself back under control. Jensen’s eyebrows furrowed as he thought, but then almost instantly, he was lighting up, resuming his typing with renewed frenzy. Jared grinned, letting Jensen be for the time being as he carried everything to the living room. Setting everything down, he made his way to the large, flat-screen TV, switching it on and perusing the vast list of options at their disposal. They usually chose a film depending on Jensen’s mood, Jared being pretty much fine with anything. Going with his gut, however, he picked a Marvel movie at random. Upbeat with lots of action if Jensen wanted to pay attention, nothing too crucial to be missed — not when viewed for… well, it was somewhere in the double digits, apparently — if he didn’t. Letting the movie start up, he settled down onto the couch directly across the TV, opening up the styrofoam to-go boxes revealing salivating food. As expected, and much to Jared’s amusement, the smell of greasy Chinese had Jensen appearing almost instantaneously. What Jared wasn’t entirely expecting was for Jensen to sidle up beside him on the couch, bypassing the food entirely in favor of pressing the length of his body to Jared’s side until there was a nary an inch gap between them. Jared had just a fraction of a second to let out an inquisitive hum before Jensen was grabbing his face and pressing their lips together.

Jared blinked at Jensen when he pulled back.

“Thanks,” Jensen said, glancing down, a familiar flush staining his cheeks while he distractedly played with the fabric of Jared’s shirt. “For being so helpful. With my book. And keeping me fed,” he looked to their side, at the food in question at his words. He was absolutely oblivious, Jared marveled at the realization, how much of a minx he was to Jared, and Jared honestly wouldn’t have had it any other way, even if Jensen was constantly yet unwittingly teasing at Jared’s self-restraint.

Although, maybe he could let himself loosen up just a little bit tonight, Jared decided. In a bit, though. Food first. Dessert after.

“You’re welcome,” Jared said, warmly. And because he had to tease himself as well, he pecked Jensen’s nose, huffing in silent laughter when Jensen momentarily went cross-eyed. “Now, eat,” he ordered, but not unkindly. Jensen was eager to obey, twisting and leaning to grab himself a plate and scooping food onto it, when he noticed the TV, already several minutes into the Hulk.

“Ooh,” he leaned back, shoveling noodles into his mouth. “B.S. science!” It came out muffled through his mouthful of food, but Jared shook his head in fond exasperation all the same. They stayed relatively silent while they ate, but the moment Jensen put down his empty plate on the coffee table and leaned back with a content sigh, Jared was moving. Setting his own plate down beside Jensen’s, he twisted his torso so that he had his back to the TV, and loomed over Jensen.

Jensen looked up at him, eyes wide with mostly confusion, but a month together, and Jared could still see the trepidation swimming under it. One day, Jared promised himself. One day, he’d show Jensen he had nothing to worry or even fear about with Jared. No matter what. For now, however, he practically let himself crash down on Jensen, plundering into his mouth with no mercy.

As always, when Jared kissed him, Jensen let out a soft sound of surprise, hands scrambling up, fingers desperately clutching at Jared’s shirt, before he’d sigh, and invariably let Jared in without resistance. It was becoming a ritual at this point, one Jared didn’t think he’d ever tire of when every kiss seemed to activate a primal urge within him. Barely holding back the urge to growl, Jared scratched at Jensen’s shirt before finally just letting his hands slip under it. At the first touch of Jared’s cool palms on his bared and heated hips, Jensen’s mouth fell slack, low whines beginning to slip free from his throat. Smiling into Jensen’s mouth, Jared licked in deeper. Having gotten a taste of the addicting aphrodisiac, his hands itched to explore unmapped skin further. But he didn’t allow himself to go further. Not tonight.

No, tonight was for their first, heated, make out sessions. Jensen was already pliant in his arms, just from Jared’s ruthless mouth on his, and he wanted to see how boneless he could get his boyfriend to become in his arms. Behind him, the Hulk’s furious roars went unheard by its audience.

oOo

Jared didn’t spend the night at Jensen’s that night. Even though he stayed so late it would’ve made sense for him to at least have taken the couch. But after leaving Jensen’s lips thoroughly red and swollen, he’d still sensed some sort of discomfort from Jensen. So as much as it hurt, he put on his widest grin, pecked Jensen’s irresistible lips one last time, and drove home. He’d go straight to bed, but his body and mind seemed collectively against him, not letting Jared sleep until he gave in and slipped his hands under the waistband of his sleep pants. Soon as he came, his eyes couldn’t have closed faster. 

Most of the next few weeks went that way, Jared staying at Jensen’s till late at night, most of the time kissing Jensen to within an inch of his life… but other times, just simply spending time together. And every time he’d return to his house by himself, unsatisfied and pent up with energy. Yet, he never once pushed Jensen. Not when he looked positively happy to see Jared almost everyday, reverting to an almost childlike personality, eager to spend time with Jared… and then there were times when he was red, chest-heaving for breath, shy yet a sexy puddle under Jared. When Jared was guaranteed to have that, at the very least, he was perfectly fine with letting Jensen set the pace for the most part. 

It still stood, though, that there was only so long he would wait, before the energy thrumming within him demanded an outlet. At least it wasn’t too picky. But no one seemed the right fit to be Jared’s next prize kill, and he knew he was only going to get collectively more insane if he didn’t find someone,  _ soon.  _

Out of the blue, it was Jensen who unknowingly provided Jared with his next victim. 

oOo

Jensen had yet to admit it, but taking Jared’s dogs out for a run did wonders for his muse. So it worked rather neatly that by the time his brain was overflowing with words straining to get out (and his legs threatening to give out), they’d arrive at a dog park, and Jensen would take several minutes to jot down keywords onto his phone before the dogs won over his attention again. 

He was seated on one of the park’s benches doing just that, at the moment. Harley and Sadie had seemed to understand the program, because they weren’t nagging at him just yet, laying at his feet and keeping their eyes trained on two young siblings squealing loudly, riding around in circles on bright little bicycles under their mother’s watchful stare. 

While he’d always preferred the silence to work in peace, Jensen was surprisingly able to tune everything out for the most part as he furiously typed away on his phone. Which is why he didn’t pay much attention when someone sat next to him on the bench, but it was the man’s voice directed at him that had Jensen jumping in his seat. 

“Wonderful day today, isn’t it?”

Jensen squinted up at the sunny sky before facing the man beside him. Rather short — though? Not like it was unusual compared to Jensen’s six-foot-two. Jared was an exceptional anomaly — shifty, nervous eyes, palms that must’ve been sweaty with how he continuously rubbed them on his jeans, and an open flannel over a graphic tee… the guy looked like he belonged in a basement rather than a public park, attempting to make conversation. 

Jensen chastised himself for the thoughts. How many times had he himself been reminded of the negativity of undeserving judgement, and the beauty in the lack of it due to kind hearted souls?

“It is.” Jensen gave the man a small smile before turning back to his phone. He really needed to get a few more words out before he forgot, they were absolutely  _ perfect— _

“So you new around these parts?” The man’s voice tore him out of his thoughts. “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.” 

With a sigh, Jensen put his phone face down on his lap, resigning himself to making awkward small talk. Dammit. What had Steve told him to say to avoid giving personal information while neatly sidestepping being the focus of attention —  _ without  _ making it too obvious?

“Not exactly,” Jensen eventually said. He mentally applauded himself for only spending a few seconds awkwardly trying to stall. “You visit this park regularly?” He internally cringed. Jesus, take the wheel. Why did they have to sound like a come on?

“Oh yeah.” The man chuckled. Jensen frowned. While he’d been asking to keep the focus off of himself, he knew for a fact that he’d never seen this man even once in the past month during his many trips here. “I mean, the scenery is great.” The man turned to look away, following his line of sight, Jensen felt the beginnings of dread pooling in his gut when he saw the kids, a boy and a girl, probably around the ages of five and seven, getting off their bikes. Grabbing hands, they started spinning together, all the while laughing and shrieking shrilly at the top of their lungs. Jensen swallowed. 

“Right,” he said stiffly. Pocketing his phone, he stood, Harley and Sadie getting up as well without needing a command. “If you don’t mind, I’m gonna…” he vaguely gestured downwards at the dogs. To his alarm, the man’s eyes instantly snapped to him. He hastily stood as well, and Jensen unconsciously took half a step backwards.

“Oh, right. Hey, can I get your number? Maybe we can coordinate when we can meet up here again, I mean, it was really nice seeing you.”

He felt sick, but also trapped. Eyes darting to the side, he thought fast. “Yeah, uhm. Why don’t I get your number, I can send you a text?” 

The man brightened.“Sure!” 

Feeling like he was headed to his execution, Jensen reluctantly pulled his phone out. 

The man rattled out a string of numbers, clearly waiting for Jensen to put it in with abruptly keen eyes pinned to Jensen’s fingers. “The name’s Andrew, by the way,” he introduced himself, no sooner than when Jensen got the last number. Beginning to feel disgusting by association, Jensen mindlessly added the name. “Andrew Dabb. Two B’s.” He grinned. “Text me?”

Fuck. Double fuck, with a triple side of helping of extra fuck. Fuckfuckfuck, all the fu—

His eyes landed on the side of his screen, and he could have mentally -- hell, he could’ve cheered aloud.  _ God bless iPhones and assistive touch.  _ “Yep, gimme a sec…” as surreptitiously as he could, he quickly tapped — ahah! Right there — he slid his thumb across his screen and— “Ah, shit.” He gave an apologetic grin. “Phone died. And I don’t really have my number memorized,” he lied. Andrew visibly deflated, but he shrugged as Jensen clearly showed him the black screen. 

“Uh, it’s okay. Just — text me when your phone’s charged, yeah?”

“Of course.” Jensen smiled stiffly. “I’m gonna let these two get started on running now—”

“Uh, right, right.” Andrew started walking backwards, tucking his hands into his pockets. “I’ll see you around. Oh, I never got your name?” Ah, c’mon.

“Chris.” Jensen said shortly. “Bye, Andrew.” He said with a tone of finality. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the man brightened at the sound of his own name like he’d been blessed or something. But it got him to turn around and quickly walk away — albeit with a skip in his steps.

Jensen slowly exhaled.

oOo

**Tues, Oct 8, 3:51 PM**

_ Hey, sweetheart ;) _

_ Wanna eat out tonight? I’m thinking Italian _

**4:06 PM** _ Jens? _

**4:08 PM** _ Sorry. Not feeling well.  _


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just toss whatever I said earlier about posting sundays and Friday’s out the window. I’ll try to post twice a week, and ideally will just stick to that

“Jensen?” Jared put his keys back in his pocket, closing the front door behind him. He’d always been ecstatic whenever he got to use the key Jensen gave him to his house, but right now, Jared was nothing but anxious as he looked around for his boyfriend. “Jensen!”

He wasn’t in the living room. Or the kitchen. Downstairs study was just as quiet. “Jens?” He was nearing the staircase when he finally got a response — a bark that sounded an awful lot like Harley, coming from the second floor. Taking the stairs in threes, he leaped to the last step as Harley came trotting around the hallway. “Hey, bud!” He bent down, giving Harley a quick head rub. “Where’s Jensen, huh, bud?” Another bark in his face, and then a tail in his face as Harley turned around and led Jared back down the hallway and straight to Jensen’s bedroom. “Of fucking course,” he muttered to his idiotic self, before pushing his way through the partially open door. “Jens?”

Jensen was sitting in the middle of his bed, blanket wrapped tight around him. And in his hands was a tub of pint-sized ice cream in one hand, a spoon halfway to his mouth in the other. Jensen was frozen, staring wide-eyed at Jared, looking guilty as hell.

Jared stood there, hand still flat on the door, and took everything in. “Not feeling well?” He quoted.

Jensen swallowed, putting the spoonful of ice cream back in the tub. “Sorry,” his voice was quiet, head dropped low. 

Jared paused, reconsidering the scene in front of him. “Jensen?” He slowly approached his boyfriend, and when Jensen didn’t really react, he sat down onto the bed beside him. From Jensen’s other side, Sadie perked her head up, staring balefully at Jared before laying her head back on her paws. “Hey, what’s wrong?” He raised a hand to brush his fingers through Jensen’s hair, only for Jensen to duck under his arm — and collide against his chest.

Jared looked down onto the top of Jensen’s head, befuddled.

“‘M sorry,” Jensen repeated. “And thank you.”

Jared frowned. “Thank you?” He repeated dumbly. “For what?”

“For coming over,” Jensen nuzzled Jared’s shirt. From where he’d plopped himself onto the ground, Harley let out a mournful sounding whine to Jared.

“Jensen,” anxiety returning and increasing, Jared pulled back and forced Jensen to meet his eyes. “What happened?”

Except, Jensen was stubbornly avoiding his eyes, but Jared, so close and with nothing that could distract him from the sight in front of him, noticed Jensen’s red rimmed eyes, and anxiety began to bubble into red hot anger.

“I-I was at the park,” Jensen began, looking pale and sickly. “The one I take Harley and Sadie to? There was a guy there…” As Jensen told Jared, recounted in bits and pieces with frequent pauses and nauseated swallows, Jared’s fists clenched with rage. “—He left, but, god, Jay. I wanted to warn that woman so bad, but he-he’d already disappeared, and—”

“Hey, hey.” Gathering Jensen into his arms, Jared hugged him tight, making soft, shushing noises. “It’s okay,” the tub of ice cream was a cold and sticky object pressed against his stomach, but Jared ignored the discomfort. “You’re fine. Those kids are fine, and if you ever see them again, then maybe you can find a way to let the mom know to be careful, alright?”

Jensen sniffed. When he spoke, it was so quiet, Jared had to stop breathing to hear him. “I feel so disgusting.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Jared held Jensen tighter. “You’re not, I swear.”

But Jensen wasn’t appeased no matter what Jared said, and now that his eyes were misty, he wasn’t calming down either. Eventually, Jared forced him to get up, depositing the ice cream on the nightstand, and pushing Jensen to his bathroom.

“Shower,” he ordered firmly. “And then maybe we can see if there’s anything consumable in your kitchen.” 

Jensen tossed him a scathing glare, but bundled in an overly large sweatshirt as he was, he didn’t look angry as much as he did adorable. “Screw you, I keep my kitchen stocked.” He retorted, but it was clear his heart wasn’t in it.

“All the better,” Jared said lightly. “Now, c’mon. Into the shower with you.” He made to close the bathroom door behind him, but Jensen stopped him, putting a hand on his arm. Again, Jensen wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Jens?”

But he didn’t lift his head. A flush was starting to climb up his cheeks, temporarily distracting Jared, so that when Jensen tugged on his sleeve, Jared found himself unwittingly following, entering the bathroom further with Jensen leading him, walking backwards and keeping his soft hold on Jared’s shirt. “Jens…” 

“Jay,” Jensen’s soft voice made any protests die on Jared’s tongue, and instead, he found himself giving in as Jensen pushed his hands under Jared’s shirt. As he dragged it up, Jared mimicked his movements, placing his hands under Jensen’s sweatshirt. A bolt of arousal shot through him when his palms were met with bare skin, but he controlled himself, taking increasingly deeper breaths. Together, they made quick work of each other’s shirts, but when Jensen made to unbutton Jared’s jeans, his hands started fumbling. Taking mercy on him probably should’ve meant stopping, but there was nothing that would manage to get Jared to stop now. Still, he did stay mindful as he stilled Jensen’s hand with a touch, and took over. Kicking off his jeans within ten seconds flat, Jared was more reverential when removing Jensen’s loose pants. His mind flashed back to when they were last in a similar scenario, but then, Jensen was unconscious. Now he was responding with audible hitches in his breath that echoed throughout the bathroom. Then, Jared had refused to give into his darker desires and take advantage of a slumbering Jensen. Now, he fulfilled his long time fantasy of many nights, pressing gentle kisses to Jensen’s silky smooth skin as it was bared. Hands on Jared’s broad shoulders for support, Jensen’s pants pooled around his ankles. Without letting go of Jared, Jensen kicked his pants off to the side as well.

They stood there, clad only in boxers. With Jared rising to his full height, towering over Jensen, Jensen looked right up at him. His pupils were blown wide, and those luscious lips parted, a siren’s call. Bending down, Jared captured those sinful lips, plump and soft, yielding to Jared’s own. Sufficiently distracting, Jared fingered the waistband of Jensen’s boxers. Inhaling sharply, Jensen pressed himself closer. No longer patient enough to drag this out any longer, Jared stripped Jensen bare, hands flying to remove his as well.

“Jay…” He led Jensen backwards into the shower with his hands on his hips. Head falling back, Jensen stretched out the expanse of his skin for Jared to latch onto, sucking bruises everywhere he could.

“You’re okay, Jens,” Jared whispered into Jensen’s ear, blindly reaching a hand out to search for the shower knob. “You’re so good.” Water cascaded down on them when he found it, lukewarm before heating up. “Mine,” he said harshly. He captured Jensen’s lips for another bruising kiss. Jensen mewled, almost under Jared when his knees buckled. He would’ve fallen if Jared hadn’t snaked an arm around Jensen’s waist, holding him up. His hands scrambled for purchase on Jared’s shoulders, struggling and mostly failing with the water making Jared’s skin just that much slippery to hold onto. Jared pulled back with one last biting kiss, Jensen chasing after his retreating lips with a desperate whine.

Jared chuckled. “It’s okay, sweetheart,” he murmured. “I’ve got you.” Their eyes were closed, but he kept their faces close enough to brush their noses against each other’s.

Jensen sighed. Giving up on trying to support himself, he looped his arms around Jared instead, tucking himself into Jared in a hug. The action finally brought their dicks to make contact, and Jared shuddered, his fingers tightening on Jensen’s hips. But Jensen was painfully soft against him, so despite being half-hard himself already, he returned the hug, holding Jensen close and keeping them under the spray of water.

oOo

Later, after their fingers had pruned and they’d reluctantly dried themselves off, Jensen sat on a barstool at the kitchen island, bundled up in yet another oversized sweatshirt, but wearing nothing over his boxer briefs. He had his arm hanging at his side, occasionally scritching at whichever dog passed by him with wandering noses.

His eyes were avidly fixed on Jared’s back, muscles rippling under the fabric of a t-shirt that stretched tight as he moved around Jensen’s kitchen with ease. It was one of Jensen’s, made obvious by the way whenever Jared reached for an ingredient at the overhead cabinet, the shirt rode up and revealed a tantalizing sliver of skin. For all that they’d just showered together in the nude, it was still a mouthwatering sight, and Jensen counted it as a personal victory when he managed to keep up a coherent stream of teasing commentary everytime Jared added something to the pot on the stove. It was met with Jared waving a spatula threateningly at him, but it was just as light-hearted as Jensen’s bantering. The soup he finally dished out into two bowls, sitting beside Jensen at the island and facing him while eating, truly was delicious. Although, he still wasn’t going to give up on the commentary. Both because apparently, he hadn’t done a sufficient enough job of distracting Jared, but also because the jovial companionship Jared had provided made a part of Jensen feel happy like he hadn’t in years.

oOo

A few hours later, Jared paused the TV, glancing down at his chest where Jensen was huddled up, sleeping. At their feet, Harley and Sadie were on their stomachs, also mostly out of it, except for Harley who kept stubbornly blinking his eyes open to watch the two humans, his eyelids drooping again before he began the cycle anew with a jerk of his head every single time. Jared really needed to record the comical sight, he was sure Jensen would get a kick out of it too. Which, speaking of…

“Hey, sweetheart.” Jensen grumbled, burying his face into Jared’s —  _ his  _ — shirt. “I gotta get going now.” Harley stared at Jared rather accusingly, making him roll his eyes at his dog. Sadie didn’t look bothered at all — but Jared wasn’t fooled. He knew there was no way he was going to get his girl to come home tonight with him.

Jensen mumbled something incoherent before speaking clearer. “Stay.”

Jared froze. “Jens?”

Jensen groaned, rolling his head to peek at Jared with a half-opened eye. “Stay.” He repeated.

“You sure?” Jensen rolled his eyes as he closed them, playfully biting the skin closest to his mouth, which just so happened to be on his pec, a little too close to a nipple. Jared jumped — or as much as could without accidentally dislodging Jensen right off the sofa.

“Don’t make me say it again.”

Jared wisely clamped his mouth shut… for a solid five seconds. “Can we at least move to your bed? We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, but it’ll probably be better for our backs. No matter how unbelievably comfortable your couch is.” Jensen scrutinized him with half of his right eye before conceding with a put-upon sigh. He began to move off of Jared — but once he was no longer pinned to the couch anymore, Jared didn’t let him go too far.

Jensen let out an undignified squawk as Jared swooped Jensen into his arms in a bridal carry. He smacked Jared’s bulging bicep, but when he resolutely started for the stairs, Jensen flailed before wrapping his arms around Jared’s neck. “I hate you,” he grumbled, his tone lacking any convincing heat. Jared hummed in response. With Harley and Sadie on his heels, he walked to Jensen’s bedroom, gently laying him down before moving away. A hand latched tightly onto his wrist, preventing Jared from pulling back.

“Jay?” Jensen’s voice was soft, unsure, but under it was a thin veneer of fear that prompted Jared to address immediately.

“I’m not leaving you,” he promised, smiling down at Jensen. His eyelids were begging to close, but Jensen kept them stubbornly open and on Jared. “I just gotta let the dogs out and make sure they’re good for the night, okay?” Jensen still didn’t let go. Wide green eyes stared up at him, but when Jared didn’t waver in the genuity oozing from his countenance, Jensen blinked, fingers going slack.

Jared bent down, pressing a soft but long kiss on Jensen’s forehead. “I’ll be back up in five.” Jensen’s eyelashes fluttered as he finally closed his eyes.

Going back downstairs, he left the back door open, walking to the kitchen as Harley and Sadie bounded outside. He smiled when he saw the bag of dog food in the corner. It definitely wasn't his own, Jensen having long since returned those when Jared had returned from his conference. Which only meant Jensen had gone out and bought the exact same brand of dog food — and just as large a bag — for his own place.

There were, conveniently enough, a couple of dog bowls right by it. Scooping food into one, he filled the other with water, placing them side-by-side on the floor just as Harley and Sadie came back inside. “Stay good, you guys. Okay?” He gave them a quick rub down before going to close and lock the back door. Absently making a cursory check to ensure all the windows and other possible entrances were securely latched, by the time he got back to Jensen’s bedroom, his boyfriend was ensconced in his blanket, sound asleep.

oOo

Jared woke up to the sound of furious typing. Blinking, his arm moved without conscious thought to cover the other side of the bed. Meeting nothing but cold air and rumpled sheets, he lifted his head, blearily looking around. He found Jensen, seated at the foot of the bed, an intense frown fixed on his face as his fingers flew away on the keyboard of his laptop, the screen illuminating his features in the otherwise darkness.

Slowly but surely climbing to awareness and feeling none too happy about it, Jared didn’t sound too thrilled when he forced his voice to work. “Jen? What’re you doing?”

Jensen’s head snapped up, blinking at Jared before giving a smile that looked more like a grimace. “Shit, did I wake you up?” Before Jared could deadpan a retort, Jensen was rambling. “I’m so sorry, it’s just — this one scene wouldn’t leave my head — I swear, it was playing on a loop in my dreams — I thought I’d just get the rough, outline of it—”

“Jensen.”

Jensen shut his mouth, wincing and making a much better attempt at looking apologetic this time.

“Shut up and finish your scene,” Jared ordered, much to the surprise of Jensen. “And then hurry up and get your ass back in here.”

Jensen’s face was flaming a beautiful red in the white light of his screen, but he nodded shortly and got back to work. Mentally filing away Jensen’s swift obedience at his command, Jared slumped back onto the welcoming mattress, eyes slipping closed and already halfway to falling back asleep. He couldn’t give into unconsciousness completely though. The sound of the keyboard’s clacking kept him company, not as intrusive as he’d have thought, so while he wasn’t fully asleep, his mind was still pleasantly drifting by the time Jensen let out a satisfied hum and closed his laptop, plunging the room back into complete darkness and allowing the blue glow to fade away from behind Jared’s closed eyelids.

The mattress shifted under Jensen’s weight as he crawled back up and under the covers. No sooner did his head hit the pillow when Jared turned around, gathering a mildly startled Jensen into his arms. Finally feeling the previous discontent within him settle, Jared was out like a light.

oOo

He woke up again, minutes or hours later, he didn’t know. But Jensen was still curled up in his arms, facing Jared so that every exhale had a puff of air landing on Jared’s lips. Sleepily grinning, he tilted his head so that his nose was between Jensen’s and the pillow. Pushing himself the slightest bit closer, he connected their lips into a barely there kiss.

He didn’t know if he pulled back or not before Jared was asleep again.

oOo

The next time he woke up, it was to the sun’s rays mercilessly cast upon Jared’s face. He groaned, but his body was already responding to the sun automatically, long having been trained to rise with it. Jared did consider sleeping in, and Jensen wasn’t of any help either to convince him otherwise, looking too cozy to be legal, bundled up in the blankets and curled up into Jared’s heat as he was.

Ultimately, it was the faint sound of Harley and Sadie padding about downstairs that had Jared carefully untangling himself from Jensen’s limbs before pulling free of the bed’s comfort. Still trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes, Jared yawned as he climbed down the stairs. Opening up the back door, the fresh morning air had him debating the merits of going for a run this morning when he didn’t even have the proper clothes as he refilled the dogs’ bowls. By the time that was done, Jared decided — screw it. He could work out later. At the moment, he started up the coffee machine, letting it work its magic while he rummaged around the kitchen, distantly wondering what to make for breakfast.

With the house completely silent apart from his cooking and Harley and Sadie’s joyful sounds of obliterating their own breakfast, it was easy for Jared’s mind to begin aimlessly drifting, not really thinking about anything in particular. With the coffee machine done with its brewing, Jared grabbed himself a mug, sipping on it as he flipped pancakes on one pan while keeping an eye on the bacon on the other stove. The kitchen soon began to liven up Jared’s senses further, the smell of fresh breakfast doing wonders, especially combined with the caffeine entering his system. So it didn’t really come as a surprise when he heard the sound of softly shuffling footsteps announcing the arrival of a sleepy Jensen gracing them with his presence.

“G’morning,” he greeted cheerily, feeling much more awake as he grabbed another mug and filled it to the brim with hot coffee before turning back around. Adorably sleep-ruffled, Jensen was frowning and not looking awake whatsoever. “Coffee?” The mere word was enough to make Jensen perk up and direct his focus onto Jared’s hand with an almost unnerving level of intensity, considering his previous lack of awareness.

“God, yes!” He practically groaned aloud as he rushed forward, as fast as a caffeine addict deprived of his fix — and thus still a zombie — could. He only paused long enough to place his laptop that he’d carried with him downstairs on the island before sidestepping Sadie to latch onto the mug. Whether he’d opened his eyes yet or not, they were certainly closing now in bliss as he inhaled the aroma of his ambrosia.

Jared watched it all in amusement before he had to turn back to the stove before he burned their breakfast. Leaving Jensen alone with his coffee, he grabbed them plates, bringing them to the adjacent dining room for a change. There was a large window that allowed the morning sun to shine perfectly into the room, and while still shielding them from the impending winter’s cold, it would be serene enough for Jensen to still continue waking up at his own pace. Returning to the kitchen, Jared almost laughed aloud when he found Jensen exactly how he’d left him, but this time looking like he was going to faceplant his mug of coffee by falling asleep while standing up. Jared kept the laughter behind tightly pressed lips, which he pressed to Jensen’s cheek as he walked past him.

“Go wait in the dining room, sweetheart,” Jared said softly. It took his still tired boyfriend a while to process his words, during which Jared scooped the pancakes and bacon into serving platters. He seemed dejected at having to move, but complied anyway, following close behind Jared as he walked back to the dining room and placed the food on the table. About to go back to grab them some cutlery, he noticed Jensen practically dropping down onto a chair, and then wince, glaring at the window he’d seated himself to the opposite of. Holding back a snort, Jared hurried out of the room. With how angry he seemed to be getting, Jensen was either going to demand Jared to bodily shift Jensen to another chair, or irrationally throw something at the window.

As if a broken window would solve the problem of the sun’s rays beaming directly on Jensen’s face, but still. The way Jared noticed Jensen’s fingers tightening on his coffee mug, he was personally inclined to lean towards the latter anyway, and had no wish to be near Jensen when he exploded. Even if — and especially if — he was just going to order Jared to carry him to another seat like an angry toddler.

A cute, oversized, and adorable toddler, but nonetheless angry, and containing significantly more potential to cause worse harm than a two-year-old. Until he’d properly woken up. Then, he was as harmless as a newborn. Which Jared would never be saying directly to Jensen’s face.

Returning one last time with their utensils, Jared kept an eye on Jensen as he sat down adjacent to him. Thankfully, it was a companionable sort of silence that descended upon them as they ate, neither willing to break the early morning serenity. Even after he’d finished eating, Jared didn’t really feel like moving. Stunningly, without even needing to make eye contact, Jensen must have been of the same mindset, because he opened his laptop just as Jared whipped out his phone.

Grinning down to himself, he swiped through notifications and replied to whatever emails he could while the familiar sounds of a clacking keyboard filled the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I get some more comments? They really help make me feel extra positive about this fic


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God I love how stimulating your comments were for the last chapter! Really gave me some stuff to think about and consider for where I’m going w the story and some other details, so thank you for all the love!

_ It was really only a handful of pages — less than ten — but it was the photos that were threatening to fall out of the file from the sheer abundance. It had to be snapshots of every square foot of the crime scene from every angle — walls and ceiling included. And Greg was ready to pull the rest of whatever hair he had left on his balding head out. _

_ Blood splatters were everywhere. Intestines were pinned to the walls to make a crude design, brain matter on the ceiling as if the victim’s head burst open like a volcano, teeth and nails on a fucking chessboard of all things — the list went on. And not a single fucking piece of evidence. Even the chessboard belonged to the vic, so that was a moot point. As for the actual chess pieces… let’s just say, if it wasn’t someone’s actual body having been mutilated, Greg would have been freely impressed with how the perp used the vic’s bones to make a rather remarkably accurate chessboard. _

_ Greg sighed again, leaning back in his chair. His brain felt fried. First off, they were still dealing with the murders of those girls, then suddenly this? Something that was in stark contrast to the other murders — this victim was an older man, for heaven’s sake! What could possibly even —  _

“Jens?”

Jensen blinked, slowly coming back to awareness of his surroundings as he looked at Jared. “Uh… yeah?”

“I’m gonna take a shower now…” Jared said, though he still looked rather dubious. “Do you mind if I borrowed something? I’ll stop on my way home before I head back to NYC, but I could do with a change of clothes.”

Still trying to bring himself out of a world of crime, it took Jensen a second to process the request. “Oh!” He jumped up in his seat when he did, wincing as his back straightened out. He hadn’t even noticed he’d been hunched over. “Yeah, lemme get you some stuff — hey,” he paused, on his feet but a hand resting on the back of the chair he’d vacated, trying to refrain from outwardly expressing any discomfort when the blood rushed back to his legs. “Do you mind checking over what I just wrote? I’m not sure if this would actually work, but -- you  _ are  _ a surgeon, so…” he drew the word out while grinning bashfully.

A rather amused smirk passed over Jared’s features as he stared right back at Jensen easily. He didn’t know why, but at that moment, it felt like Jared was staring through Jensen’s eyes and seeing all the way into his core, and Jensen had to suppress the urge to do a full body shudder.

“Sure, sweetheart,’ he gestured to Jensen’s open laptop. “May I?”

“Yeah!” Bending forward, Jensen scrolled up a little. “From about here should… be… good?” He abruptly became aware of how, with the laptop now tilted more towards Jared, Jensen was practically leaning over Jared’s shoulder. If Jared should turn his head ever so slightly, in fact… Jensen’s breath hitched as he felt Jared’s exhale on his heated skin, gut tightening with arousal.

“That’s fine,” Jared whispered, a husky sound that went right to Jensen’s groin. Large hands slid the laptop closer to Jared. It took a few seconds for Jensen’s brain to come back online.

“Right,” he swiftly straightened, the absence of Jared’s proximity leeching the heat from his body. “I’ll just… shower stuff.” He pointed a thumb behind him, nevermind the fact that the stairs were actually to his  _ left.  _ “Yeah.” Turning, he made his exit before he could make a fool of himself — well. More than he had already.

Jesus. What was even wrong with him? It’s not like they hadn’t made out before, hell, he’d seen Jared’s impressive package — even though he admittedly hadn’t been too focused on it at the time — so why was Jensen’s body deciding to behave like a virgin just because of a gap that could’ve have been closed to make skin contact but wasn’t? “Get a hold of yourself, Ackles.” He muttered to himself as he fetched a clean towel from the upstairs storage closet. “Seriously.”

He’d just gotten his body under control, too, right as he was finishing up setting the bathroom for Jared, when long arms snaked around his waist from behind, pulling his back flush against a broad chest. Jensen would never admit to letting out a small squeak at that, and his pulse skyrocketed again, not calming in the slightest as Jared started nuzzling his cheek. Raising his eyes to the mirror — and unbidden, a thrill of interest peeked through again at the sight of them — he noticed Jared’s eyes were closed. So with a little bit of difficulty, because  _ damn _ those muscles were unmoving until Jared got with the program, Jensen twisted around in Jared’s hold so he could look his boyfriend in the face. “Uh,  _ oh,  _ how-how was the — _ hm _ — scene,  _ Jay!”  _ He let out a gasp as Jared relentlessly bit at his chin. It took Jared a while to respond, although Jensen himself kind of forgot he even asked a question as he looped his arms around Jared’s neck. Jared did pull away though, leaving Jensen torn between wanting to pull Jared back to what he’d been doing to his neck, and a genuine need to know what Jared thought once he came back to his senses a little, no thanks to Jared pulling away.

Jared hummed thoughtfully, looking Jensen in the eyes so Jensen could see the honesty there when he answered. “I love your writing. Seriously. Why haven’t I finished all your books yet?”

Jensen groaned, letting his head fall back. “I don’t know. And thank you.” He said. “Now. Scene. Logistics. Is it plausible enough, Dr. Padalecki?” Still keeping his eyes on Jared, there was no way Jensen could miss the heat in Jared’s eyes at his words, pupils blowing wider than he’d ever seen them.

“You should be careful with what you say,” Jared muttered lowly, eyes dropping down to Jensen’s lips. Jensen unconsciously licked them, and Jared’s nostrils flared. “Or I can’t be held accountable for my actions.”

Jensen swallowed thickly, aware of how intensely Jared eyed the bobbing of his Adam’s apple. But before he could even think about what the hell to say to  _ that, _ Jared’s eyes were already snapping back to Jensen’s, as if his gaze had never strayed from them. “It seems probable enough, but there are some details that do seem like a little bit of a stretch.” Jensen frowned, feeling a bit disappointed in himself, and a lot more foolish. “But lemme think on it, alright?” Jared added, before giving a sly, mischievous grin. “Maybe I can find a way to subtly ask my coworkers, hm?”

Jensen’s eyes widened. “Oh, no. Nuh-uh. It’s bad enough some of my critics think my writing is too gory or whatever, I don’t want anyone at the hospital saying weird shit about you!”

Jared raised an eyebrow, somehow managing to look simultaneously like he was frowning but also amused, if a little worried. The writer in Jensen couldn’t help but marvel at the complex myriad of emotions Jared managed to display in a single look. “You do realize I was joking, right?” Jared said, increasing Jensen’s feeling of stupidity. “But, don’t worry. I won’t ask. But I might go through some of my books again and see if it is possible to divide the stomach and lungs into sections and piece them back together like a dartboard.”

Jensen flushed. “Okay, when you say it out loud like  _ that…” _

Jared’s arms tightened, pulling him in close again so that Jensen had to tuck his head under Jared’s chin to avoid knocking into it. And though he hadn’t really thought much about it, the position was rather comfortable, making Jensen feel secure.

“Hey, no. It’s fine. I’m not shaming you for your creativity. I’d never do that,” Jared positively growled. And, holy shit. Maybe the sound should’ve been frightening, but Jensen had to press a smile into Jared’s chest, his own feeling warm and… and  _ tingly. _ “If anything, I love it.” Jared was saying, his voice back to a normal timbre and just plain earnest. “And it’s also kind of fascinating, especially from a surgeon’s standpoint, so I would definitely love to check this out for you to see if it can be legitimate enough, okay?” Jensen hummed, still grinning widely into Jared’s shirt. His lack of a response didn’t seem to be a problem though, because, “Anyway. Assuming all this fancy shit you’ve set out — and I can’t wait to try three different kinds of body soap — is for me,” Jensen buried his head deeper into Jared’s chest — hey, he was distracted when he’d been setting up the bathroom! “I gotta ask; do you come with the exclusive, ‘Ackles showering package?’”

Jensen snorted, pulling back with a slap to Jared’s chest. “You wish, Padalecki. Get your ass in the shower while I check on your dogs.”

As he was leaving the bathroom, he heard Jared muttering, “damn spoiled mutts love you more than me… can’t even blame ‘em.”

He closed the bathroom door behind himself, wide grin still in place.

oOo

“Man, you better not be planning on bringing that into the OR, Padalecki.” Jared rolled his eyes, not bothering to turn around even as he flipped the bird over his shoulder to the owner of the voice. “What’s got you all glued to your phone like a friggin’ teenager, anyway?” Sterling came into view as he tried to peak at Jared’s screen. In a fluid movement, he had the screen covered, and then his phone locked before Sterling could look up at Jared’s face.

“Oh, don’t you know?” Chad, the attending nurse, piped up from where he was getting things set up for their surgery. “Jared’s got a boyfriend now.”

“Oh, really?” The once-over Sterling gave Jared was nothing pleasant, but Jared ignored it with practice. “Didn’t know you were  _ that  _ kinda type, Padalecki.” And, oh, please. Was Sterling really coming at Jared with his juvenile bullshit?

“What kind of type are you talking about, Brown?” Jared said smoothly, but he brought himself to his full height, looking down at Sterling with cold eyes, warning the man to consider his next words carefully.

Wisely, he did. “Now, I don’t mean to start any trouble,” Sterling said, raising his hands placatingly. Jared wasn’t buying it, and from the small snort Chad let out, neither was he.

Sterling narrowed his eyes at Chad, but didn’t say anything to him. “Figured you were just the kind to be married to the job and all that,” he added, addressing Jared. “But, hey. Wonders never cease and all that. You planning on bringing this lucky man to our next monthly bar hop?”

Right. Their monthly bar hop, which consisted of almost everyone on Jared’s floor, as well as some others sometimes, to take advantage of a Friday evening by visiting as many bars as they could before tapping out. For some people, like Chad, tapping out meant too drunk to function. For others like Jared, Misha… and Sterling… tapping out involved a different kind of tapping, usually in the flavor of the night’s bedroom. If they made it that far. Personally, Jared would rather he didn’t have to hear how well Misha could contort his body to fit in a car’s footwell again.

“We’ll see.” Jared eventually replied, when it seemed like Sterling and an equally invested Chad weren’t going to let him go without an answer. Sufficient enough, Sterling moved on to blabber something else, Chad no longer bothering to pay attention. Jared figured either he didn’t care that no one was actually listening to him, or Sterling was utterly dense outside of the OR. Although he did manage to raise a reasonable question, Jared pondered as they entered the OR. Their monthly bar hop was more a tradition that Jared tolerated if only to keep up appearances. But since he’d started seeing Jensen… well, he hadn’t tapped out with the intention of sex or acknowledgement of too much alcohol. Yet, pride had him become an unwilling sober companion and designated drunk driver at times too, for those last few stragglers in their group who couldn’t be trusted to get home safely when they couldn’t even see their own hands.

None of that was what had Jared’s mind still stuck on the topic, though, even as he cut into their patient’s flesh with careful precision. No, what posed an unusual challenge Jared found himself strangely looking forward to was getting Jensen to agree with accompanying him. Having just had their last bar hop a few days ago, the next one wouldn’t be for a good three weeks at least. But Jensen’s publishing date, or whatever it was -- hey, Jared loved to read, especially his boyfriend’s work, but sometimes, Jensen’s publishing company was… insanely idiotic -- was coming up in only a little over a month, and Jensen was borderline deranged over the whole thing. His boyfriend was already enough of a hermit as it was, but give Jensen a deadline he could no longer avoid, and hermit’s hovel transformed into a nuthouse. Whether or not a deadline was imminent, this had been one of the many comparisons Jared kept to himself about his boyfriend.

Well, Jared mentally surmised as he stitched their patient back up, Sterling in the background trying to hit up one of the female attending nurses now that his work was done. At least he’d have time to convince Jensen, Jared decided, right as Buckmaster ran the trolley of used equipment over Sterling’s foot on her way out.

“You should really stop trying to shoot your shot in the middle of a surgery,” Jared said impassively. Glaring, Sterling sneered, but hobbled his way out as well with nothing more than a huff.

oOo

He didn’t bring it up for the next few weeks, with valid reason. As expected, Jensen was harried, more than Jared had ever seen. But it was the first time Jensen was getting a book published while with Jared, and though it certainly wasn’t like it was his first, Jensen admitted to Jared that the nerves never really decreased.

“It’s like, no matter how well-received my books are, it doesn’t comfort me to think that there are so many people out there who’ve read my writing and actually want more,” Jensen tried to explain one day, laying on his back and staring at the ceiling, hands vaguely gesticulating with his words. Jared watched with rapt attention as he spoke, on his side and under the covers with only a few inches of distance between them. “I mean, I’m glad people enjoy it, I really am. But it just makes me all the more nervous, because what if they don’t like the next one and get disappointed? What if they decide it’s too illogical, or dark and gory, or -- hell, even hate the fact that this one ends in a cliffhanger and is gonna need a sequel, and then the publishing agency decides--”

At that point, Jared reached a hand out to capture Jensen’s wildly flailing hands, effectively getting his attention in the process. “Hey,” he whispered, meeting Jensen’s eyes with a steadfast gaze of his own. “They’re gonna love it,” he promised. “You spend too much time researching for anything to be illogical, your story is well-thought out and organized neatly even in your notes, and executed with amazing precision -- pun intended,” he joked, getting a brief smile in response before going on, “--and you’ve reviewed it multiple times so that there wouldn’t be any plot holes. Your story is perfect as it is, and as for the goriness? Well, like you said. People out there have read your books. They know what it’s about, and they still want more. So, that’s all that matters, yeah?”

For a worrying moment, Jensen hadn’t said anything. And then, much to Jared’s alarm, he actually started tearing up, before hiding his face in Jared’s chest as he pulled him into a hug.

“How are you so perfect?” Jensen had whispered, so quietly that Jared wasn’t even sure he was supposed to hear it.

Needless to say, Jared had no idea how the hell Jensen got through the publishing process of his first book. Maybe he’d ask… when the whole thing for  _ this  _ book was over with.

So, absorbed with the deadline as he was, Jared didn’t do more than casually mention the bar hop a few times in passing… until it was the night before it. And three nights before Jensen’s books were due to hit the stores’ shelves.

“You have any plans for tomorrow?” Jared asked nonchalantly. They were in the living room, Harley and Sadie shamelessly begging for belly rubs. Across him, Jensen sat staring blankly at his laptop, no doubt going over one thing or the other for the umpteenth time.

“Apart from agonizing over my book release and probably going insane?” Jensen automatically shot back, before scrunching up his face in thought. “Tomorrow’s, what, Friday?” At Jared’s nod, he leaned back onto the sofa, absently closing his laptop. “Nothing in particular. Why?”

Jared hummed. “Keep your schedule open. We’re going out.”

“What.” Jensen deadpanned. Jared just grinned at him, making sure to hit Jensen with the full force of his smile, dimples and all.

“We’re going out. You need to take your mind off of things, relax for the night, get fresh air -- how long has it been since you stepped outside, anyway?”

“Around a week.” Jensen automatically answered the wall behind Jared before rapidly shaking his head. “No. Can’t make it. Nuh-uh. What if-what if the editor calls? Or-or the publishing--”

“Jensen…”

“Nope. Sorry, Jay, but just. Not this time.”

oOo

“I hate you.”

Jared hummed obligingly, looking between two shirts before setting on a nice, dark gray henley, not unlike the one Jensen was wearing when they first met. Tossing the other, blue shirt onto the rest of the discarded pile of clothes on Jensen’s bed, he handed Jensen the gray henley, mind already mentally roving through the selection of pants he knew Jensen owned.

“Seriously,” Jensen insisted, even as he begrudgingly took the shirt and slipped it on above the sole towel he’d wrapped around his waist before stepping out of the bathroom. “How the fuck did I let you talk me into this?”

Jared didn’t respond right away, too busy digging through clothes for those pair of light jeans he  _ knew _ he’d seen in Jensen’s closet…

“Ha!” He muttered triumphantly to himself under his breath as he straightened with the desired pants in hand. He turned back to Jensen. “Simple,” he finally said. “I didn’t.” Jensen just stared at him like he’d gown an extra head on his shoulder.

“What,” he began, not paying attention when Jared handed the jeans to him, “are you going on about?” Jared bodily turned his boyfriend around. Herding him back to the bathroom. As much as he definitely wouldn’t have minded the sight of Jensen being comfortable undressing in front of him, unfortunately, whether or not they were at the stage, Jared didn’t want to test himself.

“ _ Soon,”  _ he kept having to remind himself. “ _ Soon, and it will all be worth it.” _

“See, even your mind knows you need a break,” Jared supplied aloud when Jensen was finally in the bathroom again, but refusing to close the door. “So there really wasn’t much convincing that needed to take place on my part.” Although, the clock was ticking, and Jared couldn’t deny his own eagerness to take Jensen outside with him. Even if it was going to be in multiple, and possibly packed bars with people who had no decorum they wanted to hold onto where they would be going, or sense of personal space… he still couldn’t wait to proudly parade Jensen around on his arm, already smug at the looks he knew they were sure to get, highlighted when at the end of it all, Jensen was still going home with  _ him. _

Jared’s mind practically purred at that. “ _ Soon.”  _ There were bound to be some clubs on tonight’s list. The kinds where it would be acceptable -- expected, even -- for full-on body contact, virtually no space between them, and they would lose themselves in the grind and lust…

Yeah. Why wasn’t Jensen ready yet? Maybe he did need a little more ‘convincing,’ in which case, Jared swayed forward. He pressed his lips to Jensen’s, eliciting a sharp inhale in surprise as he was caught off guard. And as always, Jared took full advantage of it, sucking Jensen’s bottom lip, biting and nibbling at it until Jensen was heavily leaning against him, soft hitches in his breath barely perceptible to Jared’s ears. It was only then he pulled back, delighted at the glazed look in Jensen’s eyes as he panted softly.

Leaning forward once again, he made sure to nuzzle Jensen’s ear in a way that would result in goosebumps without fail before whispering darkly. “Hurry up and get ready and meet me downstairs.” He lightly grazed Jensen’s earlobe with his teeth, and Jensen’s hands came up to desperately clutch at Jared’s shirt. “We leave within an hour.” Easily untangling himself from Jensen’s fingers, Jared pulled back, smirking when Jensen swayed in place. But he remained unmoving otherwise, pupils blown wide open. Leaving him there, Jared turned around and exited the bedroom, whistling sharply as he did so. Harley and Sadie joined him at the bottom of the stairs, and he bent down to quickly rub them before getting some food out for the dogs.

Outwardly, he was completely calm and collected, knowing Jensen wouldn’t disappoint him by disobeying his commands. Internally, all engines were revving at maximum power, however. He couldn’t wait to see how much he could rile Jensen up before the night was over.

And sure enough, barely half an hour later, Jensen appeared at the entrance of the hallway. Hair artfully styled, clad in the light jeans and gray henley Jared meticulously chose, under a black leather jacket with his hands awkwardly tucked into his pockets. Jared’s mouth went dry for a split second.

“I’m ready,” Jensen needlessly provided when all Jared did was continue to gawk for a few seconds. At the sound of his voice, Jared shook himself to dislodge the haze of lust fogging his head, and stood. Striding towards Jensen with purpose, Jensen could only widen his eyes with mild alarm before Jared was reeling Jensen in for a passionate kiss, letting Jensen glimpse into the tightly controlled restraint that always wavered when Jared was in near proximity of Jensen.

“God, you’re so hot,” Jared groaned into the scant few inches between their spit-slicked lips when he could finally bring himself to pull back. “The things you make me want to do…” unable to resist the taste, Jared swooped back in for one more kiss. “Make me wanna just keep you to myself,” he finished when they pulled apart again. His fingers flexed on Jensen’s hips from where he unconsciously gripped him, and the thought of the possibility of there being bruises on Jensen’s pale skin later was nearly his undoing.

“Jay…” Jensen breathed out, eyes half-lidded and pinned onto Jared’s lips, as if already anticipating when Jared would close the distance between them again.

Jared took a deep breath to rein himself in, except, no. That didn’t help, because  _ God,  _ Jensen smelled like the heady cologne Jared recognized from their first date, and it was such a sin, Jared thought. It had to be illegal for Jensen to look and smell like this when they were only going for a bar hop.

“Later,” he promised, Jensen absently nodding even though he couldn’t have had any coherent idea what he was agreeing to. “Later.”  _ Soon. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More stimulating comments please? 🥺


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna post tomorrow but y’all can thank elliesamanddeanrgirl for making me wanna post today instead. Her(?) comments have been making my days so thank *you* and hope y’all enjoy

“So… when will you tell me where we’re going?” Jensen asked. Jared admired his restraint. He’d kept quiet until they got held up at one of the more notoriously slow traffic lights, ten minutes into their drive. Jared estimated that they had only five more minutes left to reach their destination, not that Jensen knew that, though.

Besides. When they’d gotten into Jared’s car, his boyfriend had still looked dazed, so it must have taken him this long to regain his thoughts. Feeling no small parts smug about that, Jared decided to put Jensen’s mind at ease.

“My coworkers and I have this monthly thing – I’ve told you about it. Basically, we’re just going to be wasting the night away in as many bars as we can.” He explained.

Jensen’s head whipped to the side so fast, Jared was concerned if his boyfriend had managed to give himself a sprain. “Come again?

Jared huffed. “Well, kinda,” he said under his breath, although going by the look Jensen shot him he probably heard it anyway. “It’s just a bar hop.”

“Are you kidding?” Jensen exclaimed, loud enough for Jared to finally tear his eyes away from the road to look at Jensen with renewed concern. “Jay – what part of you thought it would be a good idea to invite  _ me  _ of all people to this sorta thing? Do I look like the kind of person who frequents bars – and more than one, in one night?” His voice had steadily grown higher with each word that by the end, Jared placed a hand on Jensen’s thigh to comfort him as much as to give his poor ears a break. Man, if Jensen panicking in the confines of his car was enough to make his ears hurt – which, granted, wasn’t a normal occurrence, and by that, Jared meant it had never happened before – then it had seriously been a while since he’d sliced into someone’s intestines while they were still conscious for it.

“Relax,” Jared said. “My friends really just wanted to meet you. It’s already been a few months and they were starting to wonder why I hadn’t introduced you yet.”

“And you thought it would be a good idea to spring this on me instead of, oh, I don’t know, broaching the subject beforehand? And while we’re on that – you want to introduce me to your friends at a frickin’  _ bar hop?” _

Jared winced, but only clenched Jensen’s thigh instead of rubbing at his ear like he wanted to. “Well, you were kinda too hooked up about your deadline.” Jared said flatly. In front of them, the traffic slowly started to edge forward, and he eased his foot off the break. “So there wasn’t really any good time to bring it up. But you’re free now, and you deserve to get out and have some fun. I even promise I won’t leave your side, and anytime it gets too much, we can head back home. But, please? Just – at least meet my friends? For me?”

Jensen visibly deflated, the action accentuated by his thigh loosening under Jared’s palm. “Low blow,” he muttered. But then his tone became more beseeching. “Promise you won’t ditch me and leave me to fend off those vultures of other half drunk patrons by myself?”

Jared grinned. The road ahead of them cleared up, and he pressed down on the accelerator. “I promise, sweetheart.”

Jensen remained quiet for the rest of the ride, if rather sullen. Pulling into the first bar of the night’s parking lot, however, had the muscles of Jensen’s leg shifting uneasily again. He resolutely didn’t say anything though, and neither did Jared.

When they got out of the car, Jared had barely pressed the lock button before Jensen was sidling up against him. Surprised, he looked to Jensen, mouth threatening to fall a little slack when Jensen even interlaced their fingers together, but Jensen wasn’t looking at him, studiously taking in pretty much everything and anything else. Turning back to the car, Jared hid his smile as he hit the lock button twice for good measure.

The air outside was brisk and cold – and an absolute contrast to the atmosphere that greeted them as soon as they stepped foot inside. It was humid and crowded, droplets of sweat already starting to bead uncomfortably under the collar of Jared’s jacket. Inside, the air reeked of alcohol and sweat, and that combined with the vaguest wafts of some sort of drug’s smoke created a heady feeling for Jared’s senses. Not even five minutes in, and the grime of their environment was already sticking to Jared’s skin. He couldn’t wait to see where their group was going to end up over the course of this night.

The real kicker came from the fact that, because the place was just so packed, Jensen had to plaster himself to Jared to avoid getting swept away with the flow of people. Normally, Jared had to exercise tolerance for these kinds of crowds – if he didn’t mind being elbows deep in someone’s guts on a somewhat regular basis, then he could survive a handful of hours swimming in sweat, dust, and chemical fumes. But now, with Jensen flush against him? Jared could see himself gaining a newfound appreciation for this whole thing.

“Follow me!” He leaned down to yell in Jensen’s ear to be heard once he’d spotted a few familiar heads. Jensen didn’t really look like he heard, but he managed to keep close to Jared as he began to weave through the throng of people, Jared never allowing his grip to slacken on Jensen’s hand. When they finally appeared at the table Jared’s coworkers managed to snag, they were met with a bout of cheers that momentarily overwhelmed the rest of the bar’s patrons. Although, for a night and a setting like this, with the music thumping loud enough to vibrate within Jared’s bones, club might’ve been a better title.

“Jay- _ red!” _ Jared winced. He’d really been hoping he could’ve introduced anyone but  _ her  _ first to Jensen. “So glad you could make it!” The brunette in question managed to extricate herself with some difficulty and hard nudges to barrel into Jared’s free side in a rather one-sided hug.

“Sandra,” he greeted pleasantly. “Good to see you, too.” Sandra, whom he’d been very well-acquainted with for a brief period of time when he first started at NYC. Unfortunately, this was before he’d added not fucking his coworkers along with the rule of not killing them. Although, it was ‘breaking up’ the benefits part of their friendship that had really made him add in that rule. “I’d like you guys,” here, he raised his voice to address the rest of the group as he let go of Jensen’s hand, only to swing his arm around Jensen’s shoulder instead, reeling him in closer to his side as well as their table. “To meet my boyfriend, Jensen.” There was another set of cheers, this one revealing how drunk they must’ve already gotten to Jared before they’d arrived.

Sandra peeked around Jared to eye Jensen, visibly making a double-take as she looked Jensen up and down. “Hot damn,” she whistled. “Now that is a sandwich I need to get me in the middle of.” Jared rolled his eyes, Jensen shuffling uncomfortably, pushing Jared to move the introductions forward.

“Jensen, you know Felicia,” the redhead waved brightly from where she was almost buried under a bright pink boa scarf. Jensen grinned. “There’s Misha,” the mortician looked completely serious for their surroundings, which, comically combined with his thoroughly ruffled hair being how Jared knew the alcohol was finally starting to hit the man’s iron strong system. “Briana,” she, like Felicia, was wrapped in an orange feather boa. “Chad… who might actually be asleep, yes, so you don’t wanna disturb him. Ty, Sterling, and Sandy here, as you know.” Jensen was nodding along, giving everyone a brief smile. He looked perfectly composed, if it weren’t for the nails scratching into Jared’s hip.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Sterling drawled. “He actually knows my name.” Jared rolled his eyes again, but didn’t bother deigning that with a comment.

“Alright, yeah, pleasantries over – now someone tell me we’ve got some more drinks!” Jared exclaimed, and his coworkers were off again, cheering and otherwise exclaiming loudly and uselessly while Ty passed out the drinks.

“Here, brotha,” he said to Jensen as he handed him a shot of purple liquid. As long as it was alcohol that was actually meant to be consumed, Jared wasn’t going to question it. “You look like you need it.” Jared smirked as Jensen thanked him, even as he warily accepted the drink. Jared was cradling his, not drinking it. He knew he wasn’t going to let himself lose control of his senses with Jensen around in a place filled with, as Jensen accurately summed up, vultures. When Jensen looked at him though, he grinned and clinked his glass with Jensen’s.

“Cheers, sweetheart,” he whispered, using the same tone that always seemed to overtake him when he was in such close proximity with Jensen. Holding the glass to his lips, he didn’t drink it though, rather watching Jensen gulp and eye his glass one last time before proceeding to down the entire thing in one go. Jared grinned.  _ And the party is on. _

With one ‘purple-nurple,’ whatever the hell that was, in Jensen’s system, and shots appearing in a line, Jared enjoyed the show of Jensen gamely downing them all. Only playing around with the glass he’d been given at the very beginning and making a show of nursing it whenever someone with refills approached, Jared firmly made sure Jensen wasn’t more than a handful of inches away. It came to be a good idea when Jensen finished his line of shots, straightening with a triumphant smile, only to lilt to the side.

“Woah, there,” Jared chuckled, swiftly tugging Jensen towards him. “Lightweight much?” He teased. Jensen lightly swatted at his chest.

“Shut up,” he mumbled, resting his head against Jared’s chest. They absently watched a man hit on a flustered-looking Briana, Felicia silently cheering her on from the side. “I don’t usually prefer drinking so much.”

“I can see that.” Jared stated. He wrapped his arms more securely around Jensen, keeping him close. “Probably best to avoid any more drinks here if you wanna make it through a couple more bars at the least.” Jared said, earning him a groan from Jensen. As Briana disappeared into the crowd with the guy – who looked harmless enough, but if worse came to worst, Jared trusted Briana. The girl could handle a blade as well as any other surgeon – he buried his face in Jensen’s hair, taking a deep breath of cloves and leather. Craning his head a few centimeters down further, he pressed his lips to Jensen’s head, holding him tight as Jensen wrapped his own arms around Jared’s torso. He would have been perfectly content to stand there like that, if Felicia hadn’t bumped into them with an impish grin at that moment. She was wearing Briana’s boa scarf around her neck as well now. Combined with her own, it almost had her entire face hidden behind feathers if she hadn’t managed to cleverly wrap it around her head instead, leaving her face mostly unobstructed.

“Sorry to interrupt, lovebirds,” she winked, not looking sorry at all. “But Briana scored, so she’s out!” She exclaimed brightly. Jared sighed when Jensen let go of Jared, taking a step – if, admittedly, miniscule – back.

“Is… does that mean anything?” Jensen asked. Felicia’s head bobbed up and down, feathers jumping with the motion as she nodded enthusiastically.

“Yep! Everytime a person’s out – which happens a lot faster than you’d think with our group – we move on to the next bar.” She explained, and then punched Jensen’s arm.

“Hey!”

“I told you it’d be fun! Man, if you’d joined us sooner you’d have met Jared, like, ages ago.” She said, ignoring Jensen’s baleful glare.

“And like I told you,” Jensen returned. “Crowded bars aren’t really my scene.”

“You’re here now,” she pointed out, then turned a sly grin onto Jared. “Guess I can see why. Knew you’d be a good match.” She said smugly. Jared hadn’t even opened his mouth to reply when she jabbed him in the chest with an unusually sharp finger. “You better treat him right, Padalecki. Or I’m coming at you with the full force of technology and some nifty tricks Briana’s been teaching me with sharp, pointy little metal sticks.”

Jared blinked.

“Anyway, let’s go, peeps!” Felicia yelled, and then the rest of their group, minus Briana, were making their way out from their table, headed as a herd to the bar’s exit. With a shake of his head, Jared could only hope someone remembered to settle the tab this time. He had a feeling the head of their department wouldn’t be too pleased if she got another bill stating an outrageous amount the next day.

For the moment, Jared contented himself with keeping Jensen close as they circled the nearby blocks. They lost Ty in the second one to a girl with an accent, Felicia in the third with two other girls if Jared saw correctly through the crowd, and Chad, who’d bowed out in the fourth. Now, only four of them remained at the fifth bar, but judging the way Misha was chatting up a guy  _ and  _ a girl, Jared figured the night was soon coming to an end. And while he’d have normally been relieved at the impending freedom, with Jensen having joined them this time, Jared was discovering how much of an adorably clingy teddy bear Jensen became as he consumed more liquor. After three whiskeys before settling on beer to avoid fatal levels of blood alcohol content, Jensen was practically hanging off of Jared, mostly out of it, leaving Jared to support him and keep him upright. Sterling could drink all he wanted after this, but as soon as Misha deigned to let them know he was out, Jared vowed to take Jensen home and put him straight to bed. And down lots of water first, of course.

“Can I be honest?” Sterling suddenly said, breaking Jared from his thoughts. Sterling leaned forward, resting his arms on the table, a hand still cradling a glass of whisky. He hadn’t overindulged at any of the bars, as per his usual course of action, and only stuck to a single drink at each. So while he was moderately drunk, he wasn’t at the point of blacking out like some other people.

He was, however, Jared recognized, at the point of being free of whatever filters the guy did have, proven when he went on without waiting for Jared’s input. “I’m’a be real. I thought that there was no way a guy like you could be homo, right?” He asked rhetorically, somehow completely missing the full force of Jared’s glare directed at him as he downed the rest of his glass, slamming it onto the table and narrowly avoiding it from shattering.

The sound of the glass meeting the fornica table had Jensen shifting to consciousness, somewhat, within Jared’s protective hold.

“But looking at your boytoy’s cocksucking lips…”

Jared didn’t even register Jensen stiffening in his arms. White hot fury laced through Jared in a way he never allowed it to, and he barely had the sense of settling Jensen into the booth so he wouldn’t fall when Jared let go, and then he was on his feet.

His mind blacked out, anger overriding his senses making him miss however he’d crossed the table, but then his senses returned with painful clarity when he’d gotten his hand around Sterling’s throat. In one swift movement, he had Sterling on his feet – and then off his feet, holding him several inches in the air before slamming him against the nearest wall.

The bar went silent, even the music coming to a stop as the DJ, along with everyone else, stared.

“Don’t.” Jared said, his face eerily blank and tone low. “Talk about Jensen like that. Ever,” his fingers tightened. “ _ Again.” _

Sterling was wheezing, clawing desperately at Jared’s hand, and still, Jared didn’t let go. Not immediately, anyway. He stared, unblinking, into Sterling’s eyes, widening with every failed breath. And then Jared abruptly let go. Sterling fell to his knees, clutching at his throat and taking deep, lungfuls of air. Disregarding him, Jared turned to Jensen. Clearly still drunk, and yet, Jensen had put his arms on the table to keep himself upright, and was staring wide-eyed at Jared, albeit a smidgen blearily, which had him blinking furiously. Jared decided the watery eyes were because of the alcohol. Any possible reason otherwise would’ve had him turning right back around and really make sure Sterling would never dare to repeat such a thing again, with  _ anyone _ . A cautiously approaching bouncer highlighted how bad of an idea that would be.

“Don’t bother,” Jared said tightly when he drew nearer. “We’re leaving anyway.” Approaching Jensen, his gentle hands contradicted his tone as he helped his boyfriend up. Supporting Jensen against himself, he reached into his pocket and withdrew his wallet one-handed, before pausing. Maintaining careful eye contact with the bouncer, he pulled out a wad of bills, more than enough to cover all three of their drinks, and then some. “I’d appreciate this little altercation not be broadcasted,” he said pointedly.

The bouncer looked at the undoubtedly impressive amount of money Jared placed on their table. Jared could see him processing it all, and then he wisely nodded, rolling his shoulders back in a more non-threatening stance, crossing his arms over his well-muscled chest. Jared smiled thinly.

“Let’s go home, sweetheart,” he murmured to a quiet Jensen, and proceeded to lead the way out, holding onto Jensen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some interesting stuff coming up next chapter ;)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s some angst... and then there’s some fun stuff. Check the rating for an update, but also the tags

The drive back to Jensen’s was abnormally quiet, and for the first time, Jared felt the twinge of anxiety in his gut when Jensen never looked at him whenever Jared glanced at him. With unease gnawing at his gut, Jared wondered if, perhaps, he’d just gone too far today. If losing control and revealing but a sliver of the real him had Jensen reacting negatively. Jared hated the uncertainty choking his throat the entire ride back, but the only other option was to replay Sterling’s words, his disgusting leer, and Jared wished he could’ve bashed the fucker’s head in while he’d had the chance.

Grip tightening on the steering wheel, Jared forced himself to calm down, and cast yet another worried glance at Jensen.

Pulling into Jensen’s driveway, Jared turned off the ignition, but made no move to get out of the car. Neither could he find himself able to look at Jensen, not when they’d arrived and Jensen might very well break things off… Not that Jared would let go of Jensen without a fight, but for the first time, Jared realized the true extent of how much Jensen meant to him, how much it would hurt – 

“Jay?” Too lost in his thoughts, he almost didn’t hear Jensen, but not even two seconds later, he whipped his head up and to the side so fast he knew he was definitely sporting a sprain, whether or not Jensen was, but it couldn’t have been any further from his mind.

Jensen was blinking at him, some parts concerned while half asleep, Jared was tempted to laugh at the sheer ludicrousness of it all. “Aren’t we going in?”

Jared hardly dared to breathe.  _ We. _ Jensen said  _ we,  _ so maybe things hadn’t gone to shit like he thought, maybe they were okay, and maybe Jared was a teenage girl who needed to hurry up and respond because concern was gradually overtaking Jensen’s visible need to fall asleep, so Jared hurriedly nodded.

“Yeah, yeah. Lemme just–” he fumbled to unbuckle his seatbelt, almost kicking the car door open in his haste. He couldn’t get to the other side of the car fast enough, but he did manage to open the door without wrenching it off its hinges. Letting Jensen take the lead, Jared hung back a couple of steps as Jensen got them in. His hand didn’t shake too much when unlocking the front door, and Jared had to wonder how much Jensen had managed to sober up.

Harley and Sadie soon came to view, Jared absently getting to his knees to give them some much needed rubs they were clearly begging for, all the while keeping his eyes on Jensen as he took off his shoes and jacket. Finally, Jensen straightened, looking at Jared. “Come to bed?”

He was nodding even before he’d realized he’d stopped breathing, and he had to surreptitiously take in a deep breath as he pushed himself up. Still letting Jensen set the pace, Jared followed behind him as they climbed the stairs, but didn’t hang back further than two steps.

Their nighttime ritual was also carried out in silence, Jensen stripped while Jared, feeling stupid and annoyed, returned downstairs to make sure the dogs were set until they woke up. When he got back upstairs, Jensen was already in bed, on his side. Cautiously, Jared climbed in under the covers behind him, unwittingly trying to avoid jostling the bed too much. Soon as he was settled in, however, Jensen surprised Jared by turning around to face Jared, and snuggled into his arms.

Dumbstruck, Jared remained motionless before instinct kicked in, and he slowly wrapped his arms around Jensen.

“My parents died when I was ten. Almost eleven,” Jensen said suddenly. Jared froze. “It was a car accident. I was in the backseat, sleeping across the seats.” Jensen’s voice became quiet, so quiet that Jared had to strain to hear. “There was a truck in front of us, steel equipment in the bed, wasn’t tied down properly, so when the truck came to an abrupt stop for some reason,” Jensen paused, swallowing thickly. “I woke up to see the car roof sliced clean off. It had gone through my parent’s he-heads, and–” he pressed a sob to Jared’s chest, tears already starting to soak through the fabric of his shirt.

“Jesus, Jens…” Jared breathed out. He was horrified, and he knew it showed in his voice, the way he tightened his arms around Jensen, how he buried his face into Jensen’s hair.

“Mack, she was at a friend’s house at the time.” Jensen shook his head. “To this day, I’m so glad she never saw…” He trailed off, before hesitantly clearing his throat. “We were passed onto my uncle and his second wife by the time I was eleven.” Jensen’s voice was still thick, and horror was morphing to dread when he felt Jensen’s fingernails dig into Jared’s skin through his shirt. “My a-aunt, she never paid attention to us. Pretended like we didn’t exist. If she even looked at us, it was with these, like… blank eyes… as if she didn’t know who we were, or what we were doing in their home.” Jensen took a shuddering breath. “M-my u-uncle… he-he started touching me…” Jensen broke off into a sob again.

Jared was definitely horrified, but more than that, he was  _ beyond _ furious. Jesus on a bed of nails, if Jensen could just give him a name, even just the first name –

“It went on until I was fourteen. My friend from school… Steve, he-he noticed something was wrong.” Jensen took a measured inhale, his back rising and slowly falling under Jared’s arms. “But–“ He broke off into another choked sob. “It was Mack who-who saw, and-and–“ He abruptly fell silent, trying to gather himself. Jared was too horrified to even think of filling the silence. What could he have even said? 

“We would’ve ended up in the system, but Steve – Steve’s mom took us in.” Jensen was quiet for a moment, Jared just as silent if not more so. He could sense Jensen wasn’t finished yet, but frankly, Jared had  _ no idea  _ what to say, even if he was. “I don’t know what would’ve happened – where we would’ve ended up, what I would’ve done if it weren’t for Steve and his mom. Steve, he helped us, for the most part. Introduced me to Chris and a few others.” Jared didn't even have the will to huff or scoff, however internally, at the mention of Chris’s name. “It’s actually why my writing is so fucked up, I guess. My therapist says it’s a good way for me to deal with – with the trauma… and apparently, people get off on that shit, so I decided to make some money out of it. Kinda like getting paid to be treated than paying to be treated, you know?” Jensen was trying so hard to sound casual, Jared could tell, so even though his chest ached and he definitely didn’t have the heart to, he made himself huff with dry amusement, unintentionally blowing a few strands of Jensen’s hair in every which way in the process.

Suddenly, Jensen was pushing himself up, resting his chin on Jared’s sternum to look Jared in the face. His heart clenched when he took in the red-rimmed, haggard eyes, and the tear tracks smudged on Jensen’s face. “What you did back at the bar…” Jensen closed his eyes, trying to regain his composure. When he opened them, his eyes were shining, but he stubbornly didn’t let any tears fall as he stared right into Jared’s eyes without faltering. “It’s irrational, but it meant so much more to me than you’d realize.”

A drop of moisture slipping down Jared’s cheek had him blinking in surprise; he was  _ crying.  _ Closing his own eyes, he took a shaky breath and drew Jensen into a hug again, hiding his face in Jensen’s hair, but unable to and not bothering to mask the tears that steadily continued to slip free and land wetly on Jensen’s scalp.

“It’s not irrational,” Jared said into Jensen’s hair, fingers flexing on his boyfriend. “And you don’t have to thank me,” as best as he could from his position, Jared felt Jensen pull his arms free to tentatively hug Jared back. Jared tightened his hold. “I swear, Jens. I’m not gonna let anyone near you, sweetheart. Promise I’m not gonna let you get hurt ever again.”

oOo

By the time Jensen woke up, he instinctively knew Jared had let him sleep in. Judging by the sun’s rays shining through his bedroom window, Jensen figured it was past morning and closer to afternoon. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he turned around and promptly startled when he saw Jared watching him quietly, looking wide awake.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Jared said with a soft smile. Frowning ever so slightly, Jensen leaned in, lazily nuzzling Jared’s cheek. It was Jared who tilted his head, meeting Jensen’s lips with a parted mouth. Mind still foggy with sleep, Jensen easily became compliant, letting Jared work his mouth open and slipping his tongue inside. Jensen had a brief second to worry over morning breath before all thoughts were dispersed as Jared drew closer, pushing Jensen onto his back. His eyes still closed, Jensen felt the last tendrils of sleep linger, unable to be completely pushed away when Jared blanketed him with his body, trapping Jensen in a warm cocoon. He hummed, absently letting his tongue slide against Jared’s. A sudden urge to touch him overcame Jensen, and he found himself trying to untangle his hands from the blanket before he even realized what he was doing. Jared shifted, bracketing Jensen with his arms and eased off of him a little, and it allowed Jensen’s hands to be freed. He immediately cradled Jared’s face, trying to memorize the stubbled jaw with reverent fingertips. At the gentle touch, Jared sharply inhaled, before pulling away.

Jensen didn’t even have the time to let out a whine of displeasure before Jared was latching back onto his neck, sucking in the sensitive skin there. The sound Jensen was previously about to let out became stuck in the back of his throat as his breath hitched instead. He subconsciously stretched out his neck, baring more skin to Jared’s questing mouth. His boyfriend didn’t disappoint, taking advantage and marking up the exposed skin. His breath growing rapidly unsteady, Jensen slipped his hands around Jared’s head, tangling his fingers in Jared’s long hair and holding on tight as Jared moved further down.

“Jay…” he whispered, embarrassingly high-pitched as Jared mouthed at the skin right above the collar of his shirt. Feeling Jared’s head tilt under his hands, he opened his eyes to see Jared looking up at him, pupils blown wide with lust. It took several seconds, Jared only slowing his movements before stopping and just letting his open mouth rest on Jensen’s collarbone, hot puffs of air with every exhale landing on his spit and sweat slicked skin, for Jensen to get the message.

Slowly, keeping his eyes pinned on Jared’s, Jensen nodded. Jared’s gaze darkened further with desire, and he started moving. Quicker to comprehend this time, Jensen helped Jared until he was pressed flat against the bed again, bare-chested this time, his sleep shirt carelessly flung off to the side somewhere. Goosebumps prickled onto Jensen’s skin as he lay there for Jared’s hungry eyes to take in, both of them struggling to take deep, measured breaths. Jared didn’t take long to snap, and he was ducking back down, this time to take a nipple into his mouth.

Jensen let out a wordless shout, back arching and hands flying back to Jared’s head. He desperately clutched onto the long strands, heat throbbing in his groin at the feeling of Jared’s warm mouth suckling his nipple like a baby with its mother’s teat. Face twisting with pleasure, Jensen writhed on his bed, legs slipping open further to accommodate Jared between them. And he did settle in the V of Jensen’s legs like it was the most natural thing in the world. The soft fabric of their boxers did nothing to prevent their erections from rubbing against each other, and when it did, combined with Jared abusing his other nipple now so it was also perking up from the attention and growing more sensitive with each swipe of Jared’s tongue? Jensen just about ceased all functioning, the sensations too much for his sleep-addled mind and body.

Jensen let out a sob when his throat finally got to push out the noises trapped, legs lifting off the bed to wrap around Jared’s trim waist. “ _ Jay. _ ”

Jared abruptly surged back up to capture Jensen’s lips in a searing kiss. Jensen couldn’t bring his brain to work enough to respond, not when Jared was bucking against him, grinding their hard cocks against each other’s. When Jared pulled back, they were both breathing wildly, and a single glance showed the veins on Jared’s neck protruding – he was holding back, Jensen realized. And sparks of thrill exploded in his gut when he realized – he didn’t want him to.

Just as he was having this mind-blowing revelation, Jared spoke through clenched teeth. “Tell me to stop, Jens,” he was gritting out. “Tell me to stop right now.”

Heart racing, Jensen willed his breathing to be more controlled, waiting for Jared to look at him as he slid his arms from around Jared’s back, up his bulging biceps, to gently cradle his face, and he felt a lot more calm and collected when Jared met his eyes. “Fuck me, Jared.” Jared stopped breathing, absolutely frozen as he stared down at Jensen. “Fuck me so hard like there’s no one else – just you. Show me how much I’m yours.”

He could see it all in Jared’s eyes, the moment when whatever restraint Jared was holding onto shattered, and then Jared was harshly biting at Jensen’s lips, almost breaking the tender skin. “Mine!” He was saying repeatedly, harshly, hands scrambling at Jensen’s waist to lift his hips and drag their still clothed dicks together. Not clothed for much longer, though, Jensen hoped. “No one else,” Jared was swearing.

Jensen mewled, throwing his arms over Jared’s back again. “Yours,” he panted, digging his nails into Jared’s skin. “Only yours, Jay.”

Jared growled, pulling back to sit on his haunches. Jensen keened, reaching out for him, but then stopped when he realized Jared was stripping himself before reaching for Jensen’s underwear, though he was too preoccupied with the sight of Jared’s glorious dick to feel shy at being completely naked. His jaw dropped. He’d seen Jared naked before, he  _ had, _ but by everything that was holy, he definitely had not truly registered how big Jared was. Fuck, he could already imagine the delicious ache in his thighs and pelvic after this, the sore burn in his ass – if he could even fit that in there. Jensen’s ass subconsciously clenched, and his mouth watered. He wanted that in him  _ yesterday, _

Grasping his legs behind his knees, Jensen pulled his legs up, baring himself to Jared. “Fuck me,” he was pleading, uncaring and with no sense of self-consciousness. “Fuck me, Jared, ple- _ ase! _ ” His hips bucked up, hands almost letting go from surprise when Jared bent his head down, and unceremoniously started lapping at Jensen’s hole. Moaning like a two-cent whore, Jensen pushed himself harder against Jared’s face. When Jared slipped his tongue inside, Jensen let out another shout, blindly letting his legs go to fist at the sheets and dig his heels into the bed, arching into Jared’s tongue. He was being easily reduced to a blabbering mess, his frenzy increasing when Jared added a finger somewhere in the mix. So gone as he was, he didn’t even notice Jared blindly fumbling around in his nightstand, so it was a complete shock for Jensen when he felt the cold, slippery liquid easing into him with another finger.

Legs resembling jelly, Jensen could only lay there, sprawled like a starfish, and take it. Jared rose back up to mouth wetly at Jensen’s jaw, two of his fingers still slowly thrusting in him. When he bit at the corner of Jensen’s mouth, Jensen hungrily chased after him. He knew where Jared’s tongue had just been, and it should have turned him off, but Jensen abruptly needed to taste himself on Jared’s tongue. The filthy thought made his guts clench in the most pleasant way. And Jared acquiesced, licking into Jensen’s mouth. His hand disappeared, but not for long, returning to nudge three fingers wet with lube against Jensen’s rim.

Jaw slack and chest heaving, Jensen was distracted by Jared’s hot tongue in his mouth, but not enough to miss Jared’s fingers pushing inside. Breath catching in his throat, Jensen’s head fell limply back against the pillow. He completely lost sensation in all other parts of his body, nerves pinpointing his attention to his rim as it was stretched open, wider than three of Jensen’s fingers could ever part his own muscles like Jared’s wonderfully meaty fingers were doing. A part of him that was mostly gone with lust wanted to beg Jared to just fuck him already, but another part, smaller but more rationale, recognized Jensen still wasn’t prepped enough for what Jared was packing.

Jensen moaned, both at the thought, and because Jared chose that moment to press four fingers into him.

“I’m ready,” he gasped out, letting go of his legs to grasp at Jared’s arms instead. “Please, Jay, I’m ready, fuck me, fuck me,  _ please! _ ” 

Jared gasped against Jensen’s mouth, pulling his fingers out and shifting himself onto his knees, bringing his dick closer to Jensen’s ass. “Okay,” he whispered, and Jensen reveled in how desperate Jared sounded. “Okay, okay,” he muttered to himself as he readjusted his position, one arm planted firm on the bed beside Jensen’s head, the other reaching down to guide his cock in.

Jensen stiffened as Jared pressed the head of his cock against his hole, clenching his muscles. Jared hissed. “Relax, babe,” he crooned. “Just let me in, yeah, sweetheart?” He kept muttering sweet nothings into Jensen’s ear, and Jensen latched onto it, calming himself down and letting Jared’s words wash over him as Jared slowly pushed himself further inside Jensen.

His whole ass felt like it was being split in half, but still, Jensen held Jared close, until an eternity later, Jared bottomed out, his words cutting off with a low groan. Breathing shakily, Jensen hid his face in the crook of Jared’s neck.

“Hey,” Jared was tilting his head away, clearly trying to catch his eyes. “Look at me, sweetheart?” It was phrased like a request, not an order, and it was that which had Jensen pulling his head back to reveal himself, even as he was blinking rapidly. Jared’s face was nothing but open concern as he peered down at him. “You okay?”

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Jensen wordlessly nodded. Letting go of where he’d been digging his nails into Jared’s biceps now, he looped his arms under Jared’s and over his back, pulling Jared’s heavy body ever closer onto his, a warm weight emphasized by the throbbing hardness in his ass. With a tiny whimper, Jensen ground his hips downward, making Jared buck his hips in surprise. They both groaned aloud at that, and from there, it didn’t take long for Jared to build a steady rhythm, rocking into Jensen, Jensen pushing down to meet his every other thrust. The room was filled with the sound of their gasps and groans, flesh hitting flesh, spit-slicked lips colliding rather uselessly against each other’s when Jared leaned down to attempt to kiss him. The minute shift in position had him nudging against Jensen’s prostate, and with a long, high-pitched moan, Jensen was gone, spilling all over his belly and torso, nails biting into the skin on Jared’s back. Dimly, through the haze of his orgasm, Jensen could still feel Jared thrusting, rhythm stuttering as Jensen’s muscles fluttered around Jared’s cock. With a drawn out groan, Jared bent his head down to Jensen’s shoulder, and came, spilling his warm come inside Jensen.

They slowly came down, still holding each other tight as they tried to regain control of their breathing. All too soon, Jared was pulling away, Jensen grimacing as he slipped out and abruptly let the cool air hit the mess in and on Jensen. Jared wasn’t gone for long, Jensen’s mind blissfully hazy post his orgasm, and he let his eyes close with a small smile gracing his lips as Jared returned with a damp washcloth, cleaning away the come and sweat from Jensen’s skin. When he was done, Jensen sleepily reached out for him, already feeling his consciousness slowly start to slip away. Discarding the washcloth onto the floor with the rest of their clothes, Jared easily climbed back into bed without protest, gathering a waiting Jensen into his arms. Head resting on Jared’s chest, rising and falling along with each and every inhale and exhale, and arms securely wrapped around each other, Jensen slipped back into slumber.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late but for reasons I was delayed from both posting and also working on this fic

The next time they woke up, it was near evening. A part of Jensen was fretting over knowing he just shot his sleep schedule to hell, but then Jared would pull Jensen towards him and kiss all coherent thoughts out of his brain that Jensen couldn’t find it in himself to worry about anything, much less his sleep patterns. Jared had him so sufficiently distracted, through a late lunch – dinner? – and the movie they’d mindlessly chosen; even when playing with Harley and Sadie. And yet, Jensen was struck with nerves when they finally got to bed. It didn’t help that he wasn’t sleepy at all thanks to waking up as late as they did.

Jared took one look at him and drew him into a gentle hug.

“Hey,” he murmured without pulling away. “What’s going on?”

Jensen huffed out a dry, humorless chuckle. Hell, if only he knew himself. He shrugged, wrapping his arms around Jared and burying his head under Jared’s chin. “I don’t know,” he said. “Nervous, I guess?”

Jared pulled back, hands gripping Jensen’s biceps to look in the eyes. “You know we don’t have to do anything, right?” He said seriously. “I’m not gonna expect you to pounce me at any given moment just because we had sex – not that I would have any complaints if you did.”

Jensen blushed, suddenly unable to meet Jared’s eyes. “I  _ want _ to,” he said in a rush. “I do. I just… don’t know what to do,” he finished lamely. Resisting the telltale urge to rub at the back of his neck, he chanced a look up at Jared’s face. His guts twisted uncomfortably when – or maybe because of – the soft look he was met with.

“How about I kiss you right now,” Jared offered in a gentle tone. “And we see where things go from there?”

Still feeling like an idiot, it didn’t stop Jensen from nodding. Maintaining eye contact, Jared leaned forward. Jensen closed his eyes first, and surprised them both when he stood on tip-toes to meet Jared halfway. He could feel Jared grinning, but Jensen wasn’t too bothered about it. Part of him was still running on nerves, and Jared, bless him, noticed.

Taking control, large hands gripped Jensen’s waist, walking him backwards until Jensen was against the wall. A surge of uncertainty had his fingers twitching against Jared’s neck, but Jared didn’t push any further. His hands merely starting to knead at Jensen’s side, Jensen made himself pay attention to the sensation and to enjoy what Jared was doing to him  _ now. _ Warm hands moving up and down his sides repeatedly without ever straying further contrasted with Jared’s demanding lips, easily receiving submission as Jensen tipped his head back against the wall. He was melting under Jared’s careful attention, and his boyfriend was clearly aware of the simple power he held over Jensen at that moment, but made no move to abuse it. And Jensen knew he could trust him not to.

Jensen  _ trusted  _ him.

Pulling back, Jensen swallowed at the revelation. Jared was eyeing him with concern, but he was too far gone in the realization, of the similarity and the  _ potential _ –

“Jens?” Jared’s voice was thick with his worry, effectively bringing Jensen back to the present. Blinking again, he was all too aware of how Jared was physically holding him up against the wall, not letting him fall.

“Take me to bed, Jay?” His voice was soft, tone changing halfway through from firm to a question.

Jared looked at him, something inscrutable in his eyes. It was gone as quick as it had come, leaving Jensen to wonder if he hadn’t just imagined it, before Jared was slowly tugging him to the bed. And Jensen willingly went.

oOo

Jensen’s book was a success. Jared wasn’t surprised, but he really thought that Jensen would be more relieved by now. Not that he wasn’t – looking back at how frantic Jensen had been, Jared couldn’t resist teasing his boyfriend about his then borderline manic behavior. And Jensen would roll his eyes and act all offended and annoyed, and while it was all in jest, he really looked like a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders. Secretly, Jared was sure that it was their newfound intimacy to have worked wonders. Whatever inhibitions they may have had before had fallen away after they’d finally had sex, for the most part. And Jared got to discover how much of a kitten Jensen was like once they’d freely started cuddling. Jensen may have refused to call it what it was, but there was no denying how Jensen practically became putty in Jared’s hands with just a few rubs and strokes.

‘Course, it had all been going fine and dandy until Jensen’s publishing agent called. Apparently, the book was enough of a success to demand Jensen for a public signing, and while it wasn’t for the first time, this time, Jensen could no longer avoid facing his audience.

“It’s going to be fine, Jens.” Which brought them to their current predicament, Jared repeating reassurances not for the first time, and it most likely wasn’t going to be the last either.

Jensen was pacing the length of the living room, hands in his raven’s nest of a hair. Harley was cheerily walking beside him, undeterred of the small space nor of the repetitive steps. Sadie was on Jared’s lap, merely tracking Jensen with her eyes, but otherwise uncaring of the internal storm brewing in him.

“No, it’s not!” Jensen exclaimed in a high-pitched voice. “Jesus, Jay, there’s a reason why I’ve been writing under a penname! It’s bad enough that I’m already writing freaky shit, and sure, people like it. But if they – if the world finally has a face to the kind of fucked up shit I write–“ Jensen came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the hallway, turning to look at Jared with utter dread written all over his face. “What if – what if Mackenzie reads my books?”

Jared frowned, momentarily thrown off-track. “Wait – your sister’s never read your books?”

The face Jensen made in response was as if Jared had just suggested something highly blasphemous. “God, no!” He said vehemently.

Jared was confused. “Your ‘pen name’ is literally just your first initial and your middle name, and your sister really hasn’t heard about you?” He asked dubiously.

“I’ve let her read some carefully edited excerpts and she knows I write, but she’s too busy to go looking for all of my – that’s not the point!” Jensen shook his head wildly and resumed pacing, Harley nudging his shins with how close they were walking, and sadly still going unacknowledged.

“The point is,” he stressed. “The publishing company wants me to do this whole book-signing thing, and I can’t say no. It’s only been a week since the book came out!” He bemoaned.

Jared quietly sighed to himself. “Jens, sweetheart. If the publishing company wanted you to do this, it would have to be for further publicity.  _ But,”  _ he continued firmly when Jensen looked like he was about to puke. “What did your manager say?” He prodded. “The audience – your  _ fans  _ – want to meet you, sweetheart. I highly doubt there would be such positive feedback regarding your reveal only because they want to throw tomatoes at you.” Jared said, trying to lighten Jensen’s mood. He must’ve made things only worse with that last comment, however, because Jensen looked anything but reassured.

Sighing again, Jared pushed Sadie off his lap so he could stand. “Jensen.” Standing in front of his boyfriend, he grabbed Jensen by the arms, leaning down until Jensen had no choice but to meet his eyes. “The people want to see you because they love your work – they love  _ you _ .” Jared tilted Jensen’s chin up with his fingers. “Seeing you isn’t going to change their perspective.”

Jensen looked up at him, eyes wide with tentative hope. “Will you –“ he cut off, flushing and looking down, fidgeting. Jared wasn’t having that, though.

“Will I…?” Jared prodded kindly. Jensen took a deep breath.

“Will you be there with me?” Jensen asked, voice thick with uncertainty. “I mean – I understand if you can't cause surgeries and busy schedules and all. And I mean, it’s not like you’ll actually get to sit with me?” He said, face scrunched up in thought, but then continued without pause. “Actually, there probably won’t be any point to it, I’m sure your schedule–“

“Jensen.” Jared forcibly cut in, and Jensen’s jaw clamped shut with an audible click. “Don’t presume my schedule for me. Even if I do have any surgeries booked for whatever day they’re assigning for you, I still wouldn’t miss your first signing for the world,” he promised. “Okay?”

For a while, Jensen didn’t say anything. His eyes were filled with awe at Jared and he stayed silent before he finally, slowly and shakily, nodded.

Jared grinned at him, just before Jensen stepped close, removing the last bit of distance between them, and hugged him.

Still smiling, Jared wrapped his arms around Jensen and buried his face in Jensen’s messy hair, inhaling deeply. He didn’t shy away from the realization that the warm surge of affection ballooning inside his chest was born from feeling content. Instead, he embraced it – and Jensen – closer and harder, unwilling to let go.

oOo

Jared did end up having surgery the day of the book signing, and while Jensen tried to keep a brave front, he was internally shaking hard enough for the nerves to slip through in the form of the vibrating cup of coffee in his hand.

“Jensen! There you are!” As if things weren’t bad enough already, Jensen had to hold back a groan as his agent the publishing company assigned to him for the event came into view. “Are you ready, boy? We’re expecting you out in just a few more minutes.”

Jensen shot a tight-lipped smile with thinly veiled disgust at Kurt Fuller’s perpetual leer directed specifically at him. “Yes, Mr. Fuller. Been ready since you first dropped by to let me know,” he said with a plastic smile. Because it definitely wasn’t the first time Fuller let him know he was expected to be out in a “few more minutes,” and until Jensen was actually called out, it probably wasn’t going to be the last either.

On the one and only bright side, at least the man distracted Jensen for a while from constantly staring at the clock with increasing agitation, wondering where Jared was – if he was on his way. Yet.

But on the not so bright side, Fuller’s presence brought upon its own set of anxiety on Jensen, not all of which was solely due to the irritable reminders.

“Good, good.” Fuller clapped his hands, rubbing them together with a big inhale. As if he was the one who was about to step out and reveal himself to the public for the first time. “Hey, you’re looking mighty fine today, did I mention? The audience is going to eat you up, with love, of course.” He winked at Jensen.

Swallowing past the nausea, Jensen made sure his smile was still in place. “I’d hope not, considering the nature of my books.” He said stiffly.

Fuller laughed, as if Jensen cracked the world’s funniest joke. “Oh, that’s a good one!”

Thankfully, before Fuller could say anything else in three most miserable attempts at drawing Jensen in for further conversation, a harried-looking librarian approached them.

“Mr. Ackles,” she looked rather questioningly at Jensen, and he nodded for her to go on. “They’re ready for you now. If you’ll come this way,” she gestured in front of her. Jensen nodded, subconsciously straightening his back. His coffee had long since gone cold, but there wasn’t exactly anything he could do about it now. At least it gave him something to hold onto, he mused as he waited for the librarian to open the heavy metal doors separating the back room they were in from the rest of the library. Where everyone was apparently eagerly waiting to see him.

Just as the librarian was fiddling with unlocking the doors, Jensen’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He hadn’t turned it off yet, in case Jared called or texted, but he knew he had to turn it off now. Still, he risked a quick peek at his screen anyway, and instantly felt lighter with almost giddy relief.

**Fri, Nov 22, 1:02 PM**

_ >Good luck, sweetheart. I know you’ve got this. _

_ I’ll be the creepy, tall stalker eyeing you from behind the bookshelves ;) _

Glancing up, the librarian was still easing with the lock, so Jensen dared to type a quick response back.

_ <What do you mean? You’re not gonna be in the front of the line w/ a book needing to be signed and gushing all about how you’re my biggest fan? _

Jensen only received a winky face emoticon in response before the librarian got the doors open, and he hastily shoved his phone back into his pocket. Making sure his biggest, welcoming grin was firmly plastered in place to mask the nerves, Jensen stepped out.

oOo

The book signing was… actually great. He was nestled away in one of the corners near the back of the library, and through the shelves, he could see a long line of people patiently waiting. All, presumably, for him.

And sure, his hand started cramping from constantly signing book after book after his latest book, and Jared wasn’t the first person waiting in line like a small part of Jensen childishly hoped, nor was he lurking behind any of the shelves. But as he kept getting to meet person after person, Jensen’s mind inevitably slipped away from Jared, getting swept away in the excitement of the present moment.

He hadn’t realized the broad range of his readers. While many critics had stated that his books could appeal to anyone above a certain age – obviously – Jensen hadn’t been expecting …  _ this.  _ There were men and women of varying ages, including high school boys dressed in black with skull imprints on their shirts and giggling girls that reminded Jensen all too well of Mackenzie in her early teenage years. There were middle aged women who read his books during their downtime from a hectic household, or (mostly) men who had apparently almost missed their stops during their commute to work, unable to put his book down.

Jensen was finding it all very hard to believe, but what secretly delighted Jensen was the quiet kid standing in front of him, fiddling with his rainbow colored bracelet, speaking so softly that Jensen had to lean forward to hear him.

“Thank you,” he was saying, eyes pinned to his book in Jensen’s unmoving hands as he gave the boy his full attention. “For having Tom as one of the major characters, and-and for giving him the backstory you did. And keeping him alive.” The kid blushed furiously, definitely not meeting Jensen’s eyes now, but went on with a sort of determined stance to his demeanor. “I mean, there were many moments where I was sure he was gonna get killed or die – expected it, even. ‘Cause that’s what all the other authors would’ve done,” the boy’s hands fidgeted on the table. “But, you’ve-you made it seem so normal. That, just ‘cause he was gay, didn’t mean anyone had to treat him differently. Even though Greg’s kind of a dick.” The boy’s eyes widened, as if he hadn’t intended to say that last bit aloud.

Unable to help it and not wanting to, Jensen threw his head back and laughed aloud, truly feeling whatever remained of his nerves slipping away at that moment. “You’re not wrong,” Jensen said, still chuckling lightly. “Greg is a dick,” he agreed. “It’s kind of hard to like the main character when he’s a douche, but when the only other option are the fucked up criminals?” Jensen shrugged, before smiling conspiratorially at the kid. “Tom’s my favorite too. There’s no way I’m gonna let him die,” Jensen said in a hushed tone.

The kid was finally looking at him, mouth agape in what Jensen figured was awe. It should’ve made him uncomfortable – would’ve – to have someone being so clearly star-struck looking at  _ him, _ but Jensen merely smiled kindly. “What’s your name, kid?” He asked, ignoring the sticky note one of the library assistants helpfully placed at his elbow with the kid’s name written on it.

The kid stammered. “A-Alex.”

Jensen’s grin grew wider. “Cool name.” He said, before promptly bending down and writing a note slightly longer than everyone else’s customized ones.

__ _ ~To Alex _

__ __ _ I’m glad you can find some hope in Tom, even though he’s fictional. But you’re real, and you could bring him to life in a way – by being strong, and letting the world see and treat you how  _ _ you _ _ want to be seen and treated. _

__ _ Keep faith, and I’m sure you can accomplish whatever you set your mind and heart on. _

__ _ After all, if it worked for Tom, then I should think it would work for you too. And damn what anyone else might think otherwise. You got this, kid. _

Smiling down at his note, he finished it off by signing the bottom of it with a flourish he hadn’t before. Putting his pen down, he made sure the ink was dry before carefully closing the book and handing it back to Alex.

“You take care, Alex.” Alex blinked rapidly, looking like he was trying hard to keep from crying. Jensen wasn’t sure if he’d managed to read the note upside down while he was still writing it, but Alex was nodding before Jensen could figure it out.

“Thanks.” He said, voice still soft, and walked away.

Leaning back, Jensen took a moment to drink the hot coffee someone had graciously refilled for him as the next person came. His phone vibrated again in his pocket, but he ignored it as the next person approached the table, and engaged himself with the next person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In other news I have 65k currently typed and maybe 5k more words written so it’s not like there isn’t any content at all (I apparently just got too lazy w posting that day)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve got 78k typed out so far for this fic and I haven’t finished yet but I might not be working on it for the next week... there will still be chapters to post tho obv

After a few hours of constant, non-stop signing, the line was finally dwindling down until there were only a few people left. His hand was in torturous amounts of pain, but Jensen found it manageable with all the people he’d gotten to see – and who’d gotten to meet him in return – so far. Giving the woman in front of him the best smile he could muster up without betraying his weariness, he handed her book back as she made to leave, the next person already crowding in against the table with visible eagerness and barely constrained excitement.

“Holy. Shit. It’s really you.” Jensen looked up and right into the eyes of the last person he’d ever expected to see. Too late, he tried to hide his pained grimace behind a cordial smile, but at least the man didn’t seem like he noticed. “Do you remember – we met at the park that day!” The man enthused. “Andrew Dabb, yeah?”

Despite being satisfied as a writer, Jensen abruptly wished he could audition some day. Not for any particular role, mind. But considering the amount of times he’s had to play nice despite feeling thoroughly otherwise, he’d be damned if at least one person didn’t acknowledge his acting abilities. Case in point, Jensen made a show of slowly looking over the man again before allowing a vague form of recognition to pass over his features. 

“Ah, yeah.” Hurriedly, he signed his name as quick as he could, most of the letters illegible curves. “Nice to see you again,” he lied, holding the book out. But Andrew made no move to take it back, almost ignoring it, in fact, in favor of gawking at Jensen. Whatever traces of discomfort he’d managed to push away now returned with a vengeance.

“I gotta admit, I was kinda disappointed when you didn’t call or text.” Was this man being serious? Unfortunately for Jensen, whether or not he was, Jensen was still aware of their surroundings. Already, in a precarious situation, he knew he would have to deal with this very carefully. Even if he had no idea how.

“Sorry about that,” Jensen tried to sound as genuine as he didn’t feel. “But you know how it is,” he gave Andrew a small shrug and a wry smile he knew didn’t reach his eyes. “All these deadlines and pressure from a lot of people to get the best work out at the soonest possible moment.” It was more than what he’d intended to say, but also the only truthful statement he’d uttered thus far in his short conversation with Andrew.

Andrew, who had a look of understanding and sympathy on his face. “I get what you mean,” he said, in what was probably supposed to be a similarly sympathetic tone. “I’ve written some stuff myself, but it’s hard finding a publisher who likes my work and writing, you know?” Andrew let out a self-deprecating laugh. “I swear, it’s always one or the other – maybe my work is good, but my writing could do with improving. Or maybe my writing is fine, but they just think my work is shitty!” He exclaimed.

Jensen’s smile became more fixed by the second – if it wasn’t faking a smile, then it was crying in despair. Three guesses which Jensen could actually allow expressing, and the first two didn’t count.

His arm was starting to twinge, but he held the book out more insistently anyway. “Well, I wish you all the best with your future endeavors,” Jensen said with a note of finality in his voice. Feeling foolish but overridden by desperation, he even gave the book a little shake to force Andrew’s attention onto it. Miraculously, he did look down, and as he took it back, Jensen spoke over the man before he could attempt to drag out the conversation further. “Well, nice seeing you, Andrew,” Jensen shortly repeated, mouth pretty much working on autopilot what with his brain occupied with begging Andrew t _ o leav _ e already.

“Oh, right.” Andrew’s voice was full of disappointment, highlighted by his slumped posture. “Yeah, it was great seeing you too, J. Ross!” He winked with a pause, clearly waiting for Jensen to follow up the unvoiced question. Belatedly, Jensen recalled giving Andrew an alias, but with or without that particular memory, he wasn’t too keen on speaking at all at this point. And Andrew must’ve gotten some sort of hint, too, because his face fell. And just as quickly, he tried again.

“Right – if you ever need a break from your busy schedule, you have my number!”

Resisting the very strong urge to face-plant his table took a lot of will power, but taking a deep breath, Jensen persevered. “I’ll keep that in mind.” And because he knew his patience was wearing thin and he wouldn’t be able to hold himself in check if he did lose it – and oh, he could see the headlines in his head, as clear and vivid as if it was already in front of him, if he did lose his patience;  _ “Breaking news! Crime novelist goes on a psychotic spree in library!  _ – he turned to the next person, blatantly dismissing Andrew.

He needn’t have worried any further, neither about Andrew not getting a damn hint or about the threat of ending up in the evening news (in a life-wrecking, negative light) once he realized who the next – and final – person was.

“Jay.” Instantly feeling his muscles relax, Jensen let his guard down as his boyfriend drew nearer.

Jared was staring at Andrew’s retreating back with an inscrutable look on his face. By the time he approached Jensen’s table, however, whatever reservations Jared had visibly slipped away when his eyes slid over to Jensen. His whole demeanor vibrating like an exciting puppy with Jensen’s latest book in his hand, Jensen unconsciously felt his body mirroring Jared’s open happiness.

“Oh my god,” Jared immediately said. “I cannot believe you’re actually here. I’m, like, your biggest fan!” Jared crowed. The son of a bitch was really invested in his role too, except for the telltale gleam in Jared’s eyes revealing to Jensen how entertained he was with the whole act. And Jensen wasn’t surprised, because for all that he should’ve seen this coming, truth was, he  _ hadn’t.  _ So Jared’s over the top display, while it may have greatly amused Jensen too, externally, he was blushing bright enough to rival a tomato. Judging the aforementioned gleam in Jared’s eye, he was definitely enjoying the show, the jerk.

“I-I’m happy to hear that,” Jensen finally brought himself to reply. Later, he’d decide if it was true or not, because right now, his sadistic boyfriend clearly liked watching Jensen squirm, not knowing what to say and unable to do anything because the smug bastard hadn’t given his book over for Jensen to sign yet either.

Jared grinned. “Really. I’ve read all your books. Well, almost.” Jared’s grin turned sly. “See, I’ve recently started dating a writer myself, and I guess I’ve just been so caught up with encouraging him with his current work that I haven’t been able to read much of anything else.” Finally, he placed his book on the table, but Jensen didn’t reach for it when he noticed Jared hadn’t let go of it. Jared lowered his voice. “Do you have any…” his gaze dropped to Jensen’s lips, growing dark, and Jensen’s breath caught in his throat, “–suggestions to help a guy out here?”

Fuck.  _ Fuck.  _ Jensen was caught up in desire, his mind clouding out any proper thoughts. Jared was playing some kind of game here, he was sure, but Jensen didn’t know what, nor how to respond.

Licking his lips was just about to set Jensen off – to do what, he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out, but the tensing of his muscles gave him a brief flash of leaping, undignified, over the table to Jared – but mercifully, Jared pulled back, breaking the trance enough for Jensen to formulate a half-assed reply.

“Just, whatever you’re doing is fine, I think,” Jensen croaked out, his throat dry. “I’m sure your boyfriend appreciates your support, and that’s all that matters.” Somehow, he’d conveniently managed to forget he was talking about himself. But Jared’s face softening had Jensen rethinking his words in his slightly clearer head, and … yeah. That wasn’t a lie. He may have spoken mindlessly, but Jensen really was grateful and appreciative of Jared. His boyfriend may or may not have realized it, but either way, Jensen silently resolved that he’d do a better job of letting Jared know how helpful he really was, unwittingly or not.

Jared released the book, pushing it over to Jensen. He could still feel Jared’s smile – and maybe he did know how much Jensen was thankful for him – as he opened the book. Face hidden, Jensen secretly basked in Jared’s look of pure adoration, and he was momentarily distracted enough to begin writing a note without conscious thought.

_ ~Jay, _

__ __ _ Personally, you don’t need this copy. Not when I can dedicate this book itself to you. Because I couldn’t have done this without you… _

__ _ And I really do appreciate your support, your presence… your affection, more than words can express. _

__ _ It may not be in the front of this book now, but thank you, Jay. It may be odd to wish to dedicate such a gory story to you when the life you so far have graciously shared with me has been a completely different genre, but it’s a part of me you’ve accepted, so I’d say the linking shouldn’t be too inappropriate. _

_ Yours _

And Jensen took care to spell out every letter in his name before giving the book back to Jared with a bashful smile. Winking, Jared took the book, but didn’t look at the note. Jensen was disappointed, right up until Jared leaned forward.

“I’ll see you in a bit, sweetheart,” he whispered promisingly. Confusion warred with desire as Jared walked away, but he couldn’t dwell on Jared’s words for long before the librarian from before popped up. She didn’t look as harried, probably now that the event was over, but she looked as worn out as Jensen realized he felt as well, lethargy making an appearance now that Jared was no longer here.

“Alright, Mr. Ackles, that was the last person. If you’re ready, we can start packing up now…”

oOo

Jared knew that Jensen had hitched a ride with the agent his publishing company had sent him. He was sure it was all very helpful and all, extra security, the agent could hash out last minute details and protocol with Jensen on the way to the library, two birds, one stone and all that. But the event was done, and more importantly, Jensen’s agent was rubbing Jared in all the wrong ways. Good thing was that the agent was temporary, because the way Jared caught him looking at Jensen had Jared itching to scoop the guy’s eyeballs out with a rusted blade.

He already had one person to deal with, though. Jared was anything but stupid. Killing the measly fly that was Jensen’s agent for merely the day was a waste of Jared’s time, but also too close to Jensen. Just like he couldn’t and wouldn’t kill his own coworkers, Jared was never going to jeopardize Jensen’s innocence by killing those around him, no matter how much they irked Jared.

Well. Not everyone. Just… maybe someone in particular. But that person had it for a long time coming now, Jared mused darkly.

That, however, wasn’t entirely what led to Jared currently loitering near the back entrance of the library, all too aware of the security detail pretending he wasn’t there – only because he’d managed to have a few words with a borderline deranged-looking librarian that, no, he wasn’t a crazy stalker, he was Jensen’s boyfriend, see these photos right here, Miss? Convincing her they weren’t photoshopped, combined with declining to meet Jensen inside, had his patience running thin, but he managed to get through in the end without stabbing anyone, even if barely.

He was almost one hundred percent certain the bodyguards doing a craptastic job of not glaring at him was because the librarian didn’t trust him, but they’d see for themselves that he wasn’t lying. As if he’d need to. If – and whenever – he actually needed to stalk someone, he wasn’t a complete moron to make his presence known. And – he could’ve laughed aloud at the thought if he weren’t already under scrutiny – those pathetic bodyguards whose greatest opponents were probably only their fitness coaches couldn’t stand a chance against him.

Back to the matter at hand, though. Any moment now, Jensen was due to come through those back doors, and Jared planned on taking him home himself, rather than letting Jensen spend any more time with the beady-eyed agent if it wasn’t necessary (it wasn’t. He’d checked). It was why he was late and couldn’t make it to the front of the line like he’d wanted, having had to drop home after his surgery and rush through a shower before driving here.

He also just wanted to see Jensen, and read whatever lengthy note his boyfriend had written for him in the copy of the book Jared bought at the last moment. Tucked under his arm, the allure of just opening and reading the note was like a siren’s call, but Jared resisted. When he read it, he was going to read it with Jensen alone, and no other distractions. Which was why he was impatiently waiting for Jensen to hurry up and make his appearance, because Jared was surprisingly but secretively desperate to find out what his boyfriend had written for him.

Jared was far from the praying type, but maybe there was someone out there looking out for damned and rotten souls like his, because not a second later, the doors swung open. He smirked at the voice in his head that sneakily commented, “ _ yeah, that’s probably Satan helping you out,” _ right as his boyfriend came into view, and pushing himself away from the wall he’d been leaning against, he also pushed away a rather comical image conveniently popping in his head of him and Satan sharing drinks in Hell _. “As if you’d let go of Jensen even in the afterlife, if there is one. And we all know Jensen was an angel in this world and for the next.” _

“Hey there, sweetheart,” Jared drawled, instantly drawing his boyfriend’s attention. At the sight of him, Jensen brightened. His agent was right beside him, nattering about something Jared couldn’t be bothered to listen into, not when Jensen pretty much ignored the creep to launch himself at Jared, attacking him with a hug.

“Jay,” Jensen’s voice was full of delight, muffled as it was pressed against Jared’s chest. “I didn’t think you’d be right here!”

“Told you I’d see you in a bit, didn’t I?” Jared smirked, letting Jensen pull back first before going on. “Figured I’d offer a ride home if you’re done here.” Jensen beamed at him, shifting to look at his agent without pulling back from Jared’s hold.

“Yeah, I should be. Mr. Fuller?” Either Jensen was ignoring the petulant look of annoyance on his agent’s face or was blissfully oblivious to it. Jared wished he could confidently say it was the latter, but Jensen managed to surprise even Jared at times that he honestly didn’t know which one it could be with his boyfriend.

When Fuller only continued to quietly glower without answering, Jared turned his full focus onto the man. Daring him to imply anything otherwise, Jared’s smile went cold. It didn’t take Fuller long to notice, and when he did, Jared noticed how he visibly faltered with quiet satisfaction. “N-no, not at all,” Fuller stuttered out, uneasily glancing at Jared but not actually meeting his gaze. “I’m sure the company will reach out to you if there’s anything else.” He started to back away. “Have a good day, Mr. Ackles.”

“You too, Mr. Fuller.” Jensen managed to call out before the guy scurried away. When he was no longer in earshot, Jensen turned towards Jared, who quickly shifted his facial expression into something more amicable. “You know, I can’t remember the last time he addressed me that formally,” Jensen said, amused.

Jared raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Jensen rolled his eyes at himself, amending his statement. “Okay, that’s a lie,” he admitted. “He called me by my last name at the initial meeting and was all professional then. Soon as we were talking one on one though, he started acting all buddy-buddy.” Jensen mock shuddered, adding without any real heat, “creep.”

Jared hummed, eyes narrowing as he looked back at the library’s rear entrance where Fuller had hastily disappeared through. A light swat on his arm had him refocusing on Jensen before his mind could stray too far.

“Hey!” Jensen pouted up at him, and Jared spared a moment to think how unfairly adorable his boyfriend could be. Or, actually. Nothing could be unfair about Jensen being adorable. “Thought you were here to chauffeur me?” Jensen prodded.

Jared blinked, before his features melted into a soft smile. “Yeah.” He offered an arm out to Jensen. “Care to join me?” He said with an exaggerated accent that earned him another light swat. But Jensen nonetheless looped his arm through, an equally gratifying reaction as the reluctant blush dusting his cheeks.

Nodding at the security as they passed by them, Jared was quick to direct Jensen to where he’d parked, his earlier eagerness reappearing just as Jensen curiously spoke up by the time Jared’s car was in sight. “So… did you read the note?” There was a touch of apprehension in Jensen’s voice. Jared pressed a kiss to the side of Jensen’s head to alleviate whatever worry he had.

“Wanted to read it with you,” Jared answered swiftly. He pulled the passenger door open for Jensen, catching a glimpse of Jensen reddening further before he ducked into the car. Grinning, Jared closed the door and rounded the car, getting into the driver’s seat. Locking the doors first, he made no move to turn on the engine and start driving though, turning in the seat to face Jensen instead. Eagerness intermingled with anxiety evident on his face, Jensen angled himself towards Jared, eyes on the book still securely cradled under Jared’s arm. With reverent fingers, Jared plucked the book open to the front page, and after shooting Jensen a brief, reassuring smile, began to read.

It wasn’t too long of a note, but Jared let his eyes linger on the handwriting. Maybe it was just his imagination, but Jared felt like he could see the slight hesitation give way to fondness and something more, something Jared was too cynical to dare put into words. And yet, the tone of the words – and of course, the actual words – had a strange warmth blooming in Jared’s chest. The same feeling Jensen’s writing carried, but Jared adamantly pushed it away.

It couldn’t be true.  _ Jared  _ couldn’t feel that way, not with his tainted soul and deranged mind – in comparison to Jensen. Sweet, innocent, and naive Jensen, who could never know who Jared was, but all the more reason he was inadvertently fooling himself and falling for the part of Jared he so carefully constructed and only allowed that part to be seen. They were living in a blissful dream of Jared’s construction, and he couldn’t even fathom bringing it down. Not when it would inevitably conclude with Jensen leaving him, and Jared was far enough from being a saint to readily admit to himself that for all that he  _ should  _ be guilty for assisting Jensen with his delusions, he never could, and wouldn’t let anything take Jensen away from him Not even himself, because ultimately, from the moment Jared laid eyes on him back on their first date at the restaurant, whether or not he was consciously aware if it then, it only became clearer and resolute within Jared with each day that passed.

Jensen was  _ his _ , and so long as Jensen felt even a margin of whatever was going on in his head when he wrote this note, Jared knew Jensen himself would stay as his.

“Jay?” Large, doe-like eyes bore into his thoughts, the owner unaware of the power he held over Jared. And his purity would never let Jensen realize, Jared knew.

“Was it too much? I-I’m sorry if it was too forward–“ he was cut off, words dying out with a muffled sound as Jared leaned forward and pressed their lips together. A second passed as Jensen processed the current proceedings, and then succumbed under Jared’s unrelenting lips. All too soon, Jensen was pulling back. Shaking his head a little and blinking rapidly, his eyes were dazed. Jared wasn’t worried to misinterpret Jensen’s headshake as a refusal to Jared’s come-on, not when his breathing was even more labored than Jared’s ragged exhales.

He took the moment to whisper into the scant few inches between them, mind too raw to keep control and unwittingly letting his control slip and morph his tone into a harsh reprimand. “Don’t ever apologize,” Jared said. Jensen’s eyes widened. “Your note – shit, Jens.” He hissed and pressed their foreheads together. “You can be as forward as you want with me, sweetheart.” His words sounded stupid to his ears, incomparable to the poetry Jensen waxed, and Jared didn’t wish to cheapen it with his lame-ass remarks, or promises that would reveal too much and change Jensen’s mind. He couldn’t have Jensen running for the hills. Even if Jared would always catch up anyway.

So he did the one thing he’d allow himself to do, and leaned back in to show Jensen what he meant, trying to convey it the one rail proof method he knew would work best. And maybe the look in Jensen’s eyes when they pulled apart; awe, disbelief, admiration, fondness, and a myriad more, meant that perhaps Jensen caught the gist of it. But still, Jared didn’t let go until long after the car’s windows were all thoroughly fogged up, and Jensen was left flushed and a writhing mess, a touch away from coming undone in his pants. It was then that Jared receded, but only with the staunch promise that they were headed straight home for Jared to finish what he had to force himself to stop now. And that too, only because they were still in public, and Jared would sooner gouge out the eyes of anyone who dared to see Jensen like this, be it on accident or purpose.

No. Jensen was completely and utterly Jared’s, and no one would survive even  _ thinking _ otherwise.

Which is why, on the drive home, Jared let Jensen get himself under some semblance of control without riling him up and keeping him on the edge the entire way home. His own mind was distracting Jared sufficiently with laying the groundwork for a very specific plan. His next victim would soon regret having ever laid his eyes on Jensen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmk what you think? (i.e. please comment!!!)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because this is a day late, have a slightly larger than normal chapter

Andrew Dabb did not have a notable schedule to boast of. He only ever ventured outside to take a stroll in the park, which he mostly did to stare at the children. He must have had at least one functioning brain cell, because no one ever caught him watching. Although, it was possibly only due to him leaving before it became painfully obvious what he was enjoying, and the scenery of his attention definitely wasn’t on the park’s shrubbery.

After, and apart from that, Andrew Dabb spent pretty much all his time in the basement. Of his mother’s house. Pathetic and a waste of space, Jared would probably only be doing Andrew’s mother a favor. But it still didn’t mean Jared wished to traumatize the poor, unsuspecting woman. Even if it did make things a little more complicated. Only ever staying at home or visiting a public park on a regular basis, unless Jared lured him elsewhere, either Andrew’s mom or countless children were going to sign up for a lifetime of therapy.

Standing at the doorstep of one Patricia Dabb’s house, Jared considered the merits of traumatizing only one woman over a bunch of children. Especially when Patricia Dabb didn’t look like she’d be around long enough for any traumatic events to make a significant difference.

‘I wasn’t aware that my Andy had such decent looking gentlemen as friends,” Mrs. Dabb said, peering at Jared over the rims of her glasses.

Jared smiled pleasantly. “Yes, we met in college and have kept in touch since, but I hadn’t gotten the chance to drop by for a visit until now.”

Mrs. Dabb nodded, seemingly mulling over his words before coming back to herself with a start. “Oh, silly me. You must be freezing out there, come on in!” She stepped out of the way to usher Jared inside. “I’m afraid Andy isn’t home right now, gone out for a walk. He does like to keep himself fit, my young boy,” Mrs. Dabb giggled as she led Jared into the living room, waving him over to a couch buried under decorative pillows. “He’ll be back soon though, if you don’t mind waiting.”

Lowering himself cautiously down onto the lumpy cushions, Jared took a second to harshly yank away a few pillows to make room before responding. “Not at all, Mrs. Dabb.”

The elderly woman giggled again. “Oh, please. None of that. You may call me Patricia, Patty for short. I haven’t been Mrs. Dabb for years,” she insisted. “Now, would you like a cup of tea while you wait, dear?”

“That would be amazing… Patricia.” As the giggling woman disappeared through a doorway, Jared let the cool smile slip from his face.

The house seemed okay enough from a single glance inside, rather than from a blueprint, with a closed floor plan and narrow hallways. But this wasn’t entirely what Jared bothered to make a house call for. And if “call-me-Patricia” was going to take her time to boil a damn pot of water, then he wouldn’t miss the chance to get what he really came here for.

And it sure wasn’t a fucking cup of tea, Jared thought as he stood. Walking through the doorway he’d been led through, adjacent to the one Patricia had disappeared through, he waited a moment, ears straining. Through the wall, he could hear Patricia absently humming as she rummaged around the kitchen. Figuring he had a maximum of two minutes, Jared swiftly but stealthily crept through the hallways to the back of the house. The laundry machines were happily whirring away in a backroom. He barely cast them a second glance as he crossed over to the other end of the admittedly cramped room to get to the door on the other side. Unlocked, Jared quickly pulled it open enough for him to squeeze through, leaving the door open just a sliver behind him. And promptly groaned.

As if Andrew having a typical bachelor’s pad wasn’t enough with clothes strewn over… everything, the basement smelled _rank._ And he hadn’t even climbed down the stairs yet.

Stepping over the pants on the second step, Jared didn’t even try holding onto the stair rail. At the very least, the stairs didn’t creak under his weight, surprising as it was. Fourteen steps and a damaged fifteenth one later found Jared grimacing in disgust. Blood and urine was one thing, but god only knew how many days old of semen had Jared really tempted to just string the guy up to a tree in the park instead.

Jesus. Screw it, Jared was going to take the park. Spinning on his heel, he was about to climb back up the stairs, when out of the corner of his eye, something caught his attention.

He turned back around.

In a corner of the basement, mostly out of view from the stairs, was a wall covered in photographs. They were clearly taken without the subjects’ knowledge, the majority of them being children playing in the park. What held Jared’s focus was smack in the center, however, the one person to appear in multiple photographs rather than just one. It was Jensen.

“Hello?” Jared was jolted from his thoughts at Patricia’s voice. Quickly, he maneuvered deftly around the basement. By the time he’d reached the laundry room, Patricia was at the hallway outside it, muttering to herself. “Dear me, what was his name again? Something majestic…” Her mutterings grew distant as she continued down the hallway. Jared, unable to go anywhere else, followed behind her. Thankfully, she was too caught up mumbling names that she deemed majestic enough to have been Jared’s name – “Bernie” was one of them – even though he hadn’t provided her with a name. He managed to slip through a door before she for some reason decided to look over her shoulder.

Except, the door hinge squeaked, and Jared froze as Patricia came to an unsteady halt.

“Hope you didn’t mind, but I had to urgently use your facilities,” he trailed off, as if embarrassed to be caught coming out of the bathroom. His hand was still on the doorknob, and the look of suspicion and wariness immediately slipped away as Patricia grinned again.

“Oh, no, not at all, dear! If you’re done now, though, I’ve got a hot cup of tea waiting.” She waited for him to join her, and despite the lack of space for them to walk side by side, she hooked her arm through Jared’s, forcing him to walk alongside her anyway. The cramped corridor made it so that her entire side was flush against Jared’s, and really, he had no idea how to deal with bones practically begging to be snapped when the owner was still alive and conscious.

When they reached the living room, Patricia let Jared go, allowing him to sit down while she moved to pour him his cup of tea from an old-fashioned pitcher. He smiled when she handed him his cup of tea, served on a platter and all, but then had to take a measured inhale when she chose to sit right beside him after pouring herself some tea as well. The cloying scent of old woman’s perfume combined with a bony knee digging into his leg was pushing his patience… but at least the tea wasn’t too bad. In fact, Jared looked down at his cup in dismay, having emptied it in only a few sips. Pity, but he wasn’t going to ask if she had bigger tea cups. Although, surely a man of his size would’ve made his hostess reconsider such an elaborate and, frankly, useless china set over proper serving size cups?

Not that it mattered. He’d come and gotten enough of what he needed to know. Now, he just had to figure out a way to politely get the damn woman off of him, preferably by using a method that didn’t involve snapping any wandering bones.

“Remind a forgetful woman, dear, but what was your name?” Patricia asked, right as Jared was about to excuse himself. Eyeing her rather dubiously, Jared internally shrugged.

“Bernie,” he said with the most convincing tone he could muster. He was expecting Patricia’s face to light up with delight. What he _wasn’t_ expecting was the wiry hand abruptly clutching at his thigh, way too close to Jared’s groin for her safety.

“Oh, what a wondrous name!” Patricia gushed. “You know, my second husband’s name was Bernie, too! Well, short for Bernard, of course. But I always called him Bernie.” She winked.

Straightening his back, Jared put all his focus on the cup in his hands as he leaned forward to place it back on the coffee table. “That’s fascinating,” Jared said dryly. By now, he’d given up on injecting fake enthusiasm in his voice. Satan below, but Patricia was becoming more and more likely to get her delicate neck snapped. At this rate, he would end up having to draw out Andrew’s actual time and date of death.

He really hated it when things interrupted his careful and elaborate plans for his victims. And Patricia was exceeding the time limit Jared had mentally set to deal with her.

“Patricia, it’s been an honor of mine for us to have become acquainted today,” Jared bullshitted his way through a grin. “But I’m afraid I’ve run out of time–“ he began to stand. In a move belying her age, Patricia latched onto his arm to pull herself up along with him. 

“Are you absolutely certain you can’t stay any longer?” Patricia said. She peered at him through her fake eyelashes, and – Jesus – actually batted them at him. Jared wondered if he’d be able to get away with tugging off the eyelash and claiming there to have been dust. Loathe as he was to admit it, and as much as he was usually proud of his unfailing charm, she certainly seemed enamored enough. And it didn’t look like the eyelash needed much to come free anyway. “If you could surely dawdle around for another minute, Andy will be home, and you can see him before you must leave.”

Jared smiled thinly down at her. “Tempting, really. But I absolutely need to go.” ‘ _Before I snap your neck like you’re so clearly asking for.’_

Patricia let her head and shoulders droop, dejected. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay?” She tried, rather pathetically in Jared’s opinion. Did this woman have no shame? Pride? Even dignity?

Although, that may have explained her son’s similar characteristics.

“I can keep you entertained,” Patricia went on with a leer. Jared could only allow her to go on with a detached sense of bemused horror. “My second husband and I had the kind of love story that people would envy, but I have a feeling you’d be interested in all the drama surrounding my first husband!” She said in a hushed tone.

Jared raised his eyebrows. There was no way this woman experienced more drama than the soap operas she must watch. Not with how she was unashamedly throwing herself at him. “Did your husband have an affair with the maid?” He kept his voice deceptively mild and innocent, unassuming. Really, he wouldn’t have blamed the man if he did, but even that seemed like too much excitement for Patricia’s life. Even if it was a completely plausible root of Patricia’s need to flirt.

She scoffed, but there was a telltale gleam in her eyes that had Jared regretting his choice to play along, even if only to entertain her. And not in whatever way Patricia might have alluded to.

“If only that were the case,” she said dramatically. “But, no… we found him with his pants down… with another man!” She exclaimed, frail body thrumming with excitement even as she kept her voice low, as if to avoid anyone from overhearing. Nevermind the fact that Jared knew they were alone in the house.

His body was still, but Patricia didn’t seem to notice, for all that her hand was still clamped down onto his arm. In a desperate attempt to keep him from leaving, he recognized. And he should be getting on that, right now, as a matter of fact… “Oh?” Jared said, open tone clearly requesting her to go on.

And she happily did so. “Yes, it was quite a shock to the whole town – we were all very close-knit back then, as I’m sure you’re aware. But, either way, when James’ parents found out the kind of son they’d birthed and raised.” She shook her head, tsking as if in commiseration. “Well, they were definitely understanding when I took Andrew and walked out of that life! It was a godsend, really, for me to have found a man as good hearted as Bernie. He was willing to take Andy in as his own child, even when we never had any of our own. But it was alright. We were getting on in our ages for the economy back then, but Bernie stayed through everything.” She sighed, a wistful look on her face telling Jared that she was caught up in memories of the past. Taking advantage, he slowly began to pull his arm away. “So understanding. Just as well, because, excuse me, but I’d have been damned if I let my Andy be raised anywhere near that f–”

A moment passed before gravity caught up, and Patricia’s lifeless body fell to the floor.

Stretching out his neck, Jared stared dispassionately down at her corpse, her head tilted at a satisfyingly awkward angle. “Joke’s on you, Patty,” Jared said, loosening his tie. “Not only does Andy like dick, but he’s a little more fucked up than being just a homosexual.” Unbuttoning his cuffs, Jared glanced at a nearby wall clock as he rolled up his sleeves. He only had a handful of minutes before Andrew arrived. Pulling out a pair of gloves from his back pocket, Jared decided he should have enough time to clean the house of any traces of his being there.

And if he hurried, then he could also set things up specifically for Andrew’s arrival as well.

oOo

The sound of the back door opening signaled Andrew's arrival before the man called out as he stepped inside. “I’m home, ma!” Andrew announced. His head was ducked down, almost completely immersed in the camera he held in his hands to be aware of his surroundings. He moved around the house on autopilot, more muscle memory rather than being conscious of the furniture in his path. “Gonna be busy for a while. Don’t disturb me unless it's for dinner.” Andrew continued to shout out without looking up.

Ignorant and stupid. It wasn’t even two in the afternoon yet.

Twiddling around with his precious camera’s settings, Andrew managed to expertly jump over the last step in the basement in a move that was unexpected for his exterior disposition, before he finally raised his head. And came to an abrupt halt.

“What the–“ Anger morphed the whisper into an enraged shout. “ _Ma!”_ He turned, stomping with fury back to the stairs _. “How many times have I told you to stay out? For fuck’s sake, ma–”_

“Is that really how you’d talk to your mother?” His mild voice had Andrew stopping again, this time halfway up the stairs. “And give the poor woman a break. You really think she’d survive the mere heart attack that seeing this place would bring – assuming she could’ve made her way downstairs in the first place,” Jared mused as he stepped out of the shadows. Frozen, the only part of Andrew to move were his eyes as he tracked Jared’s movement. “And while we’re on the subject; don’t you think you’re a little too old for the, ‘mom-stay-out-of-my-room-how-dare-you-clean-it’ shtick?” Jared pondered aloud.

Somehow, Andrew managed to snap himself out of it. “Who the hell are you?” Turned to face Jared, there was no hiding the tremors in Andrew’s hand as he reached out to grab a hold of the stair rail. 

Jared really hoped Andrew’s hands were clean. Jared didn’t mind a clean location before breaking it in – preferred it, actually. And the victim’s prints were fine. But the amount of effort he’d had to put while cleaning that rail and to also avoid splinters was infuriating.

“How the hell did you – I’m calling the cops!”

Jared sighed, unimpressed. “You really wanna do that?” He said flatly. Andrew’s face twisted in confusion, but he didn’t have the time to say anything as Jared let a pile of photos drop onto the center table.

Andrew paled.

“Yeah, I’d imagine the cops wouldn’t care much as much as they would this,” Jared gestured to a particular photo, zoomed all the way in on its subject. “Especially, it’s not like I’m trespassing or broke in. Your mother had been quite happy to invite me in, herself.”

Andrew’s eyes snapped back up from the photos to Jared, and he was pleasantly surprised to find a little bit of fire reinvigorated in them. Too bad it was ruined by how badly Andrew’s entire body was shaking, but hey. The thoughts that counted and all that, right?

“What did you do to my mom?” Andrew demanded. His voice didn’t crack either. Much.

Jared shrugged, carelessly putting his hands in his pockets. The perfect posture of utter nonchalance. What a beautiful contrast it always painted, with his victims never failing to play their part as a nervous wreck of a mess. “”I wouldn’t worry about her as much as you should worry about yourself, Andrew,” he said truthfully.

Spinning on his heel, Andrew ran up the stairs.

Remaining where he stood, Jared didn’t move a muscle. Andrew made it up a step, tripped on the second. Righted himself by the third. On the fourth and with only a few steps left, the wooden panel broke under Andrew’s foot.

He screamed, falling hard. Jared waited for the dust to settle, for Andrew to quiet down to whimpers while helplessly clutching at his leg, before he spoke.

“Told you.”

Then, Jared made his move. Grabbing the strip of leather he’d left on the back of a sofa, he wrapped the ends around his fists as he climbed the stairs. Stopping a step below Andrew’s crumpled form, he brought the leather over Andrew’s head. Andrew let go of his leg to try to stop Jared from stuffing the leather bit in his mouth, but Jared got it in and tied the leather off at the back of Andrew’s head. His struggling was all in vain, no match against Jared’s strength and agility.

While Andrew was occupied with trying to fruitlessly remove the leather strip gagging him, Jared bent down and heaved Jared up. With a muffled shout, Andrew came free, along with the wooden step. The stairs creaking dangerously under them as wood chips continued to fall, Jared paid no heed to any of it as he dragged Andrew all the way back down. Andrew continued to fight, both with the gag and Jared’s hold on him. Kicking around, the best he managed was to collide his uninjured leg into the banister. With a pained grunt, Andrew’s knees buckled, and Jared had to rapidly readjust his grip before the moron could take a tumble and brain himself. Jared huffed. There was no way Andrew was going to be able to get himself out of this that easily.

“You’re only hurting yourself the more you struggle,” Jared commented. “So why don’t you do us both a favor and just quit it already?” He stepped over the missing step. Andrew didn’t get to escape unscathed though; he grunted when his tailbone fell down several inches before hitting the floor.

Dragging him to the center of the room without any respite, Andrew still twisted and turned his torso like he was attempting to throw his body to the side and free himself from Jared’s hold. Jared only sighed, and with a flex of his muscles, lifted Andrew up to his feet.

While Andrew was occupied with a mini bout of vertigo, Jared chained his wrists to the ceiling of the basement. He’d just locked the manacles in place when Andrew shook himself.

“Your house’s architecture is sturdy,” Jared said when Andrew cast a bewildered look above. If anything, Jareed’s non-sequitur only confused Andrew further. “Unlucky for you, because it means I get to try channeling out my inner medieval torturer.” Jared beamed as he took a step back, perusing his handiwork. “Or maybe not medieval precisely, but there’s definitely creativity involved.” He corrected, giving the ceiling one last glance. Yeah, Andrew was fat, but it’d hold. He was gonna be losing a lot of weight soon anyway.

Turning his back to Andrew, Jared went and grabbed his duffle from where he’d stashed it earlier. Placing it uncaringly atop the photos on the center table, Jared unzipped it and began the arduous task of meticulously emptying it, treating its contents like the treasures they were. Some of them were new and very promising – Jared couldn’t wait until he got to use them.

First things first, however, Jared picked up one of the smaller tools and walked back to Andrew. Without any fanfare, he held the tool to Andrew’s hands – and then paused, looking at Andrew speculatively. His victim’s eyes were wide and pleading, breathing rapid, skin clammy. The relief was palpable when Jared stepped back, only vaguely turning to confusion when Jared made his way to Andrew’s impressive stereo set against the wall off to the side.

Fiddling with the iPod already connected to the system, Jared flipped through various playlists. If he were the type, Jared would be experiencing second-hand embarrassment at most of the songs he actually had to see with his own two eyes. As it was, he pushed on until he found something he figured would work. It was a playlist simply titled “Rock’n’Roll,” and the music within was severely unorganized, but it would be loud and wouldn’t make Jared want to rip his ears off, so he pressed play on the first song without thinking twice. The basement soon began to reverberate with the heavy beat of the drums, and Jared returned to Andrew.

Andrew’s breathing ratcheted back up again, but Jared was already pulling out his fingernails. In Jared’s sole defense, he did try to make it quick – he had a lot planned out for the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening, after all – but Andrew wouldn’t stop squirming, and there ended up being more blood than Jared would’ve hoped to be involved for such a small task.

Either way, Jared had to keep taking breaks to clean up the excess blood. None too pleased, Jared was unnecessarily harsher with yanking out the last few fingernails. “Told you already to do us both a solid and quit squirming like a damn worm,” Jared muttered. “Of course you don’t listen.” He doubted Andrew heard him. Dude was trying to express his pain as loud as he could despite the gag. He ended up sounding like a squealing pig at the slaughterhouse, more than anything else. To his disappointment, he ran out of nails all too soon, and Jared was left staring at the gag. “You do have all thirty two teeth, right?” He asked, more to himself.

Eh. He could get the teeth later. He needed to double check how many chess pieces there were anyway.

Jared sighed, stretching out his back. He was going to be here for a while, he knew, but he had the urge to make a lunch break. The tea was good, but nothing solid. Taking a step back, Jared looked Andrew up and down, mentally calculating. Andrew had quieted down to soundless cries. Jared _could_ take advantage of the momentary reprieve…

Shrugging, Jared exchanged tools for a blade and stepped back to Andrew with an almost apologetic grin. “I was planning on making you suffer a little longer,” he admitted, before the smile slipped from his face. “Especially because – well, not just because of the children. Personally? I couldn’t care less. But my boyfriend?” He traced the blade along Andrew’s abdomen, visualizing the line he was going to cut. Andrew’s breathing picked back up, chains clinking as he tried to move back and away from the sharpened edge digging – but not breaking, yet – into skin. “Yeah. He didn’t really appreciate the whole, ‘creepy-pedophile-perving-on-kids-at-a-public-park’ thing you’ve got going.” He pulled his hand back to gesture vaguely at Andrew with the blade. “You actually know him. J. Ross ring a bell?” He asked rhetorically.

Andrew’s eyes widened before morphing into bewildered panic again.

Jared hummed. “Dunno if you actually read his book, but, hey! If you did, you’re gonna feel honored to be the first person to – what’s the word? Live action role play or whatever?” Either way,” Jared winked. “Bonus points if you did read the book and know which character you are – or, gonna be, soon.”

Jared didn’t stop to see if Andrew’s face gave away any indications of a response to his questions. He drew his arm back, and slashed a horizontal line in Andrew’s guts. As intestines began to slip out, Andrew’s screams were only just drowned out by some sort of remix of Guns’N’Roses’ _Don’t cry_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eid Mubarak! Can I get an abundance of comments as my eid gift from you guys? 😊😁


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I say I’d post this two days ago? Oops. Have this slightly longer than normal chapter as compensation  
> In other news, I haven’t written in like two weeks, but I’m tryna get back to it. Seeing as I just finished a major scene, I’m hoping ima be all the right kinds of amped up to keep going strong at least until I finish

Hours later found Jared lounging on a sofa, Andrew’s mangled corpse in front of him. He was still trying to decide if he should detonate the controlled explosive he’d placed in the back of Andrew’s throat before or after pinning the intestines to the wall. Jared wasn’t too concerned about making his choice right away – he was going to finish his sandwich first and foremost. Andrew’s mini fridge mostly consisted of chips and soda – Jared stopped rummaging around after the first slice of moldy bread, just sitting there, not even in a cover or on a plate.

Patricia’s fridge was better stocked, and possibly worth the pain of removing his heavy and bloody work boots and switching out gloves. Jared was just happy that homophobic Mrs. Dabb wasn’t a vegetarian.

Polishing off the last bite of a turkey ham sandwich, Jared leaned back, resting his eyes while going over his mental checklist.

The chess pieces and chess board was done and assembled – that had been surprisingly fun to make. Bone for the frame, fat – of which there were copious amounts of, so Jared didn’t have to worry much about messing up with that – carefully alternated with slivers of the kidneys for the black and white squares on the ‘board.’ He’d even gone above and beyond and whittled the teeth to look like actual miniature chess pieces. Jared thought he did a decent job of capturing the likeness of it, if he did say so himself.

Finally, the intestines pooled at Andrew’s feet, waiting for him to start working on that.

Jared sighed, stretching out his neck. The sun had set a while ago, and he really needed to get a move on. With that thought in mind, Jared pushed himself up, scooping up the intestines. He might as well get back to decorating, sooner he finished and all that.

oOo

It was encroaching midnight by the time Jared let himself into Jensen’s house. The lights were off and it was quiet, so unless Jensen was squirreled away somewhere working on his next book, Jared guessed everyone was asleep. He didn’t immediately go upstairs to check the bedroom, though, to see if that were the case.

Jared wasn’t making any conscious efforts to stay quiet, but he wasn’t exactly making much noise to begin with either, as he made his way to the downstairs bathroom. He’d already cleaned up beforehand, but another shower wasn’t going to hurt. Jared wasn’t the paranoid type as much as he was careful and thus allowing himself to be self-assured. But if he were afflicted by paranoia, then it certainly helped keep him alive and out of suspicion for this long.

Closing the bathroom door behind him first to ensure light wouldn’t spill out into the hallway, Jared flicked the switch, eyes momentarily narrowing at the abrupt onslaught of light after hours spent in relative darkness. While he waited for his eyes to adjust to the admittedly dim light, he began to strip himself. Unclothed, he stepped into the shower stall, eyes wearily opening a little further as he maneuvered his large form around the small bathroom, trying to avoid colliding with anything. It wasn’t like the downstairs bathroom was tiny, but it was smaller than the one upstairs that Jensen – and by extension, Jared – used. And as he stepped under the hot spray of water, allowing his muscles to relax painfully slowly, the lethargy made itself aware. 

Jared had spent years fine tuning the gracefulness required to move around within both an operating room and his scenes of murder to keep from leaving behind any sort of evidence. But after a grueling day involving multiple check-ups, a smaller-scaled surgery, and what had to be his greatest and most detailed kill yet, Jared was bone-wearily tired. And annoyingly, while Jared forced himself from getting this tired too often despite a demanding lifestyle, the few and rare times he did crash, it was like Jared reverted back into his teenage years, trying to figure out how to deal with his awkwardly gangly limbs and perpetual stumbling, newborn colt-like disposition.

Jared sighed, wiping his face with one hand while the other braced against the wall. With each passing minute spent unmoving under the relaxing pressure of water, the need to fall asleep was growing larger, and he knew if he didn’t want to fall asleep in the shower, glorious as it sounded, then he needed to get moving.

Opening his eyes with a smidgen of difficulty, he turned to the rack containing basic hygiene supplies. The sight had yet to fail in bringing a genuine smile, no matter how small, to Jared’s face.They all belonged to him, as Jensen never showered down here, but it had been Jensen’s idea to stock up the downstairs bathroom with soaps and shampoos for Jared.

_ “We all know I have weird hours,”  _ Jared recalled Jensen saying with an eye roll directed at himself.  _ “And you have even weirder hours that you can’t help, because of surgeries and all that. But I don’t want you thinking you shouldn’t come ‘cause it’s stupidly late or something.” Jensen turned bashful as he recounted the few times that had happened. Jared, not wanting to impose, did have to employ some self-control from heading to Jensen’s like he wanted, because one too many times he’d come out of surgery way past midnight, and Jared ultimately had no wish to disturb Jensen – whether or not he was sleeping – in the early morning hours. _

_ “I get you’re usually tired and just want to shower again and then crash, so… why don’t you just do that here?” Jensen shyly asked. Initially, Jared could only stare at Jensen, dumbfounded that Jensen actually broached him on the subject first. It was a step closer to outright living together, and in all fairness, Jared was expecting to wait much longer before advancing… However, at the moment, Jensen’s face was dropping when Jared didn’t respond, face shutting off apart from the humiliated flush staining his cheeks, and Jared couldn’t – wasn’t having that. _

Rather than verbally responding at the time, Jared had lunged forward and pressed his lips to Jensen’s, kissing him within an inch of his life. And because Jared didn’t want there to be any doubt of his eager acceptance, he had joyously spoken his agreement into a slightly dazed Jensen’s neck.

Now, Jared smiled softly to himself as he washed away the suds of soap – he’d also made Jensen choose that. It was cheesy, but the small gesture, that he smelled in a way that reminded him of his boyfriend, how Jensen wanted Jared to smell, and if he played his cards right, also somehow transferred onto Jensen’s skin later… Jared’s cock twitched with interest at that, but Jared ignored it in favor of shutting off the water, stepping out and wrapping a towel around his waist. Why bother rubbing one out in the shower to memories of Jensen – when the real thing was just upstairs?

And with that in mind speeding his actions, Jared only lingered downstairs to gather his clothes and stuff it into a duffel bag to wash at his apartment, later. Barely having the mind to hit the lights back off and double checking the locks, Jared jogged up the stairs at a sedate pace, one hand still clutching the towel.

And sure enough, with Harley and Sadie on each side of him, his boyfriend was cocooned in bed, sound asleep.

Feeling a part within him that even the shower couldn’t touch finally relax, Jared stepped forward. Nudging at Harley to move – which he did, albeit with a sleepy, disgruntled huff – Jared dropped the towel to the ground and got onto the bed behind Jensen, crawling under the covers.

Right away, Jensen turned around. His eyes were still closed as he moved closer to Jared in his sleep. Smug satisfaction warming his chest, Jared wrapped himself around Jensen in return. Soon after, he easily drifted off as well.

oOo

Jared wasn’t due back at the hospital until the next afternoon. His late night shift enabled him to take the morning off, but if anyone bothered to ask Jensen, he’d tell them how he thought Jared easily deserved the entire day off at least.

But no one did, and besides, Jensen figured Jared needed to check in with his patient post surgery and all that. Going into this … relationship (Jensen blushed at the word, Jesus, he was turning into a fourteen year old girl) he had with Jared, he knew life in the medical field could and would be demanding. And for the most part, Jensen was fine with it – working from home with no set hours had Jensen typing away at random hours himself, after all.

Except, sometimes – taking last night as an example – Jared would come in after Jensen went to sleep. And his normally morning bird of a boyfriend wouldn’t – and didn’t – wake up with the sun as usual, giving away how grueling Jared’s previous day must’ve been without him needing to say anything.

Days like this, Jensen rose first, quietly so as not to disturb Jared. He couldn’t do anything about how hard working his boyfriend was, but he could, at the very least, provide Jared with as relaxing of a lazy morning as he could before Jared needed to leave for work again.

“Out you guys go,” Jensen whispered, opening the back door. Harley and Sadie obediently bounded out, having woken up with him, their energetic tails making Jensen smile.

Heading to the kitchen, Jensen yawned and stretched, momentarily debating on just going back upstairs and joining Jared in bed. However, he pushed the tempting thought away as he decisively turned the coffee machine on. The caffeine would wake him up enough to make breakfast, but it was still too early for his brain to handle making pancakes from scratch. He hoped Jared wouldn’t mind the frozen, prepackaged waffles. Maybe he could cut up some fruit, if he had any.

A quick check revealed that, yes, he did have some berries and … when did he buy a cantaloupe? But he was running out and needed to make a grocery run soon. Unbidden, he started entertaining thoughts of going to the grocery store with Jared while whipping up breakfast, sporadically pausing to take a sip of coffee. He wondered which one, out of the two of them, would be more serious, intending on going in to buy only what was necessary, and which one of them would fool around, sneaking stupidly unhealthy things into the cart. Would they dawdle around and spend an indecent amount of time bickering over different brands, or would they split up and come together to have efficiently shopped? Would they –

“Shit!” Burnt bacon effectively bringing Jensen out of his half trance-like state, he quickly pulled the pan off the stove, simultaneously switching on the overhead vent. As the exhaust fan whirred to life, Jensen warily poked through the bacon with a spatula. Not all of it was obliterated, a small portion salvageable. Quickly transferring it to a plate, Jensen dumped the rest of it, along with the pan, into the sink to deal with later. For the time being, he cracked a few more eggs into the other pan on the stove, and this time, he devoted his entire focus into not screwing up anything else. The last thing he needed was to chop off a finger while cutting the fruit – but, seriously. When did Jensen buy a cantaloupe?!

The cantaloupe was still cut up anyway, and half an hour, and blessedly no more incidents later, Jensen was putting everything on a tray to take upstairs. The dogs were busily munching away on their own breakfast, and after refilling his cup of coffee and placing it on the tray beside Jared’s, he was all ready to –

“Jens?” Jensen startled, jumping nearly a foot in the air. Pressing his hand to his chest before his heart could jackrabbit its way out of there, he whirled around, curses already falling from his lips in admonishment.

“Jesus, Jay!” Jensen exclaimed. “Stop sneaking around like that! What if I dropped the food? And what’re you even doing out of bed anyway?” Jensen said, tone unwittingly accusatory. “I was going to bring this upstairs to you!”

Jared stood there, looking torn between seeming apologetic and fondly eyeing Jensen. Of course, the latter won out. Typical.

“There’s nothing really stopping us from going back to bed together,” Jared said.

“Fine. But you’re not helping. And your ass better be under the covers before I get there,” Jensen retorted.

Jared’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “Or what?” He dared.

At first, Jensen was unable to retort. He definitely hadn’t been thinking that far ahead. Yet, in an uncharacteristic moment of boldness, Jensen straightened his back and looked Jared dead in the eye. “Or I’m not letting you fuck me in the shower later,” he said, fighting the urge to blush.

Surprise had Jared’s eyes widening, but it was soon replaced with sly satisfaction that left Jensen to wonder who really won that round.

“Sir, yes, sir!” Jared mock saluted, and then he was out of the kitchen before Jensen could think of saying anything else. Shaking his head, Jensen turned to pick up the tray heavy with food, and followed behind Jared.

oOo

They ended up just lazing in bed after breakfast. Harley and Sadie deciding to join the impromptu cuddle fest left Harley laying over Jensen’s legs while Sadie growled playfully, trying to get her toy rope from Jared’s hand. He only let her go as far as his arm extended without outright getting up from the bed, otherwise looking completely unperturbed with his free hand under his head.

Jensen, meanwhile, had absently opened up his laptop, but in the face of his bare chested boyfriend sprawled out beside him, wasn’t getting any work done. Eventually, Jared let go of his end of the rope, catching Sadie off guard. She stumbled back a few steps before regaining her bearings, getting onto the bed at Jared’s feed, barking before settling down and gnawing contentedly on her toy. Harley stared at her through half-lidded eyes, clearly on the verge of falling asleep until Jensen moved. Rumbling with displeasure, he resolutely stayed put, making it harder for Jensen to turn, but he got his laptop onto the nightstand, turning it back off before twisting again to face Jared.

“Let’s play twenty questions,” he announced. Jared raised his eyebrows, folding both hands under his head, but surprised Jensen by not refusing him.

“Okay,” he said easily. “You go first.”

Jensen bit his lip in consideration, not missing the way Jared’s eyes zeroed in on the action. He was unprepared to have the tables turned on him immediately, but with Jared’s ready willingness to play along – with clearly anything – he wasn’t going to let himself be distracted now. “What’s your favorite color?” He started.

Jared lifted his gaze to Jensen’s staring unblinkingly for a second. “Green.” There was something about the way he said it, Jensen wasn’t sure what, that made him lightly flush. “How many books do you have out, total?”

Jensen groaned, letting his head fall back even as he counted in his head. “Uh, eight? No, wait. Nine.” He nodded once to himself before peering at Jared. “Why, how many have you read?”

“Is that your next question?” Jared tossed back. With a roll of his eyes, Jensen shrugged. “Well, I’ve got all of them at home, but so far, I’ve gotten about three and three quarters read.”

Jensen frowned. “Huh?”

“I’m halfway through ‘White Framed Black,’ but I was kind of also counting the passage you let me read while you were working on ‘Blue Sky River,’” Jared said.

Jensen snorted. “Alright, well, I’m not going to spoil anything for you,” he said. “Your turn, stud.”

Faster than he could blink, Jared was rolling over until Jensen was on his back, Jared holding himself above Jensen by bracing himself on his forearms bracketing Jensen’s sides. Harley and Sadie were dislodged, Harley moving to the end of the bed none too happily while Sadie merely jumped off, blithely resuming her chewing.

“Is that a come-on?”

“Is that your question?” Jensen retorted, despite his brain resembling a train screeching to a halt on its tracks with Jared’s abrupt proximity.

“Does it have to be?” Jared cocked an eyebrow, and shit, he sure knew how to push Jensen’s buttons. But dammit, Jensen started this game because he genuinely wanted to get to know his boyfriend, and while the sex was more than mind blowing, there was still the side of Jared that showed why exactly Jared was such a perfect fit as a surgeon. The intelligent conversations Jared was capable of holding no matter the topic was enlightening on its own, but the man was also brilliantly entertaining, Jensen could at times vividly envision Jared standing at a stage, giving his own Ted Talk to an enrapt audience.

Which was why, despite the strong fight his downstairs brain put up, a compelling argument in the face of strong evidence … in more ways than one … Jensen forced his upstairs brain to take over, and pressed his palms to Jared’s shoulders. Not necessarily pushing him back, but just holding (chest was definitely a no-go, not if he wanted that train to keep moving without any more breaks any time soon). Still, not wanting it to seem like a complete rejection, he leaned up and pressed a chaste kiss to Jared’s lips first.

“Probably not,” Jensen said. “But nuh-uh. Game first.” Jared’s eyes gleamed darkly, but before Jensen could get a proper look, it was gone, and Jared was ridiculously pouting. “Shower sex is still on the table?” Jensen found himself hurrying to add. “Only if you have enough time before you gotta leave, so I’d suggest you get to asking your actual question.”

Jared scowled, but obligingly rolled back, harrumphing without any real heat. “What’s your favorite memory?” He asked after a while. His gaze was open, but Jensen still felt bad enough to scoot forward and rest his head on Jared’s chest while he mulled over the question.

The room was silent except for breathing and Sadie’s playful little snarls. Jared’s steady rise and lowering of his chest under Jensen’s head was rhythmic enough to lull Jensen to a near slumbering state. In his half daze broken only by Jensen’s sweeping through his recent memories and trying to choose a favorite, an almost long forgotten memory rose up from the depths of his mind.

“I think I was seven … maybe eight years old,” Jensen said, breaking the silence. His voice sounded distant to his ears. “My parents took Mack and I to the beach. I remember – we weren’t like, financially struggling or anything. But we’d never been on a plane before, and we were gonna travel all the way to California, which was a pretty big deal to me, for some reason. Mack was still three then, and she didn’t like how the air pressure was hurting her ears. She was screaming for most of the plane trip, but I didn’t even care – I was so excited about going to the beach.” Jensen smiled. “And we did. Mom and Mack were looking for jellyfish – Mack actually found one. They let it back in the ocean later, had a whole bucket of water and everything. I was with them at first, but then I started to make a sandcastle.” Jensen laughed quietly. “It was way too close to the water, though. I’d been pretty disappointed about the waves washing it away before I could really get started, but somewhere, somehow, it turned into a sand fight–”

“Sand fight?” Jared cut in, sounding dubious. Grinning, Jensen turned his head, propping his chin on Jared’s chest.

“Yep. We were flinging wet sand at each other. It was crazy. At one point, dad tripped and fell – I’m pretty sure mom started it, but we ended up burying dad in the sand all the way up to his neck.” Jared raised his eyebrows. Jensen’s grin grew wider as he remembered what followed. “Mack and I were having a riot. We thought it hilarious that only dad’s head was sticking out of the sand. We didn’t want to let mom help him get free. So around the time mom was losing her patience, dad started yelling about how a crab was eating his toe. 

“To this day, I don’t know if he really got bit or if it was just a ploy for us to stop annoying mom long enough to help him out, but it worked. Dad got out, and we got ice cream afterwards, so we weren’t hung up over it for long.” Jensen chuckled again. “‘Course, a seagull stole dad’s ice cream right from his hand. Mack and I were laughing so hard, I almost pissed my pants.” Jensen’s chuckles tapered off. “Mom shared hers with him.”  _ And we all lived happily ever after _ , Jensen wished, with all heart, he could say. But he couldn’t, and didn’t. However, his joviality was suitably killed. He shook his head and forced himself to focus back on the present, on Jared, plastering a smile on his face he didn’t entirely feel.

“What about you?” He said, trying to break Jared’s unnerving stare. “What’s your favorite memory?” He parroted. Unable to shake himself off as easily as he hoped, he couldn’t remember his own questions he’d wanted to ask. And though he knew Jared would take a hint and leave the subject alone, he didn’t want to risk giving Jared the open possibility by pausing too long to think.

Still. Jared let Jensen know he could see right through him with a glance, but he didn’t press.

“I think the time I won at baseball,” Jared said randomly. Blinking, Jensen cocked his head.

“You played baseball?”

Jared snorted. “Yeah, little leagues. I didn’t particularly care for baseball, but, I don’t know. There was something about how proud my family looked when they cheered from the stands.” Jared fell silent, looking momentarily contemplative before going on. “Anyway. It’s one of my earlier memories, so I’ll give it to that one just because of ranking.” He grinned impishly at Jensen. It took a second to register, but when it did, Jensen groaned, leaning back onto Jared’s belly and playfully swatting at him.

“Shut up,” he said, but they were both smiling, Jared’s eyes twinkling when he winked at Jensen. Smile turning a little bashful, he pressed a kiss to the skin under his cheek. “Your turn,” he prodded.

They continued back and forth like that. Jensen told Jared all about Mackezie’s teenage years obsessing over fashion magazines landing her her current job as a fashion designer climbing through the ranks pretty fast for her age. In turn, Jared revealed his own younger sister, Megan’s involvement as a social activist, while Jeff, his older brother, led his own division at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Forty-two and only older than Jared by six years, Jared nonetheless admitted the lack of pressure anyone would’ve thought he felt with Jeff setting such high standards for him in a similar field.

“My parents are the supportive type. They just wanted me to be happy, for myself, with whatever I chose to pursue,” Jared said.

Chin on his hands while still resting on Jared’s chest, Jensen smiled faintly. “That’s nice of them,” he said absently but genuinely. “And are you?” He asked. Jared shot him a questioning glance. “Happy,” Jensen clarified. “Are you happy as a general surgeon?”

Jared’s eyes softened. Pulling a hand out from under his head, he caressed Jensen’s cheek. “I’m pretty content with where I’m at, yeah,” he said, stroking his thumb over Jensen’s faint stubble he’d had yet to shave. “Besides, I can’t complain when it’s kind of how I got to meet you.” Jared said, and yep, there he went, proving why Jensen would never get used to the compliments Jared would affectionately shower him with. He really should’ve gotten used to it by now, but there was warmth unfurling in Jensen’s chest to the point that he could’ve blanketed himself in the feeling. 

He turned his head, pressing a kiss to Jared’s palm. “You sap,” he muttered fondly, hoping to muffle how affected he was at Jared’s words. Maybe Jared caught it anyway, or maybe he didn’t, Jensen didn’t know, because Jared didn’t mention it when he spoke, casting a woeful glance at the wall clock behind Jensen’s head before he did.

“I’m a sap who has to go to work now,” Jared said distractedly before looking back at Jensen. “But join me in the shower and I can show you how much of a sap I can be.” He grinned, even as Jensen swatted at his chest, fingers unintentionally catching a nipple in the process. Jared’s eyes grew hungrier.

“You’re so cheesy.” Jensen bemoaned, flopping onto his back. It didn’t stop him from following Jared in the bathroom when his boyfriend got out of bed, though.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you look at that, a whole new chapter when I said I’d post, despite the disparaging lack of comments on the previous chapter (not counting the ones who did comment, y’all’s wonderfulness made me happy, sweeties)

**PART II —** **_Rose-tinted glasses_ **

He almost didn’t hear Alona over the bustle of the office, but fortunately, she caught onto his arm before he could make his escape to the break room. “Beaver’s been looking for you,” she said apologetically.

Jeff groaned. “Can’t that crotchety old man wait until I get myself some coffee?” Technically, he knew there was no way he was going to get it first, as much as he’d need it to deal with Beaver’s grumpiness that could rival his own. Unfortunately, while Alona’s eyes widened, it wasn’t her voice that responded to Jeff. Although he really should’ve seen it coming.

“No, it cannot wait, and if you get your ass into my office, you’ll find out why.” Beaver’s voice boomed out from behind him.

The rest of the agents managed to cease all noise as they watched the showdown, even as the multiple copy, fax, and printing machines merrily whirred away. Taking a deep breath, Jeff took a second to shoot Alona a winning smile to her grimacing face before he turned around.

“Howdy, Jim,” he said amicably to the unimpressed director. “Kinda early, isn’t it?” Normally, no one else would dare talking to Beaver like this, but Jeff and Jim went way back.

“Ain’t too early to get a start on filling your ass with so much gunpowder the medics won’t know if they should take you for a colonoscopy or a goddamn gun range,” Jim snapped.

Okay. So they might’ve had some rough history between them too, but when has anything in Jeff’s life been smooth sailing?

Still, there was the maniacal, suicidal part of Jeff that couldn’t help provoking the not so proverbial bear. “Aw, Jim, you sure know what gets me roaring to go, dontcha?” Jeff drawled.

The corner of Jim’s eye twitched, and aw fuck. Shit must’ve hit far beyond the fan for Jim’s fingers to be itching like Jeff knew, if he hadn’t had his gun on him, Jim'd be making good on his promise right about now.

“My office. Now, Morgan!” Jim barked. He stomped away before Jeff could respond.

Closing his eyes, Jeff sighed. He would give his left pinkie for an Irish coffee right now, but he knew better than to keep Beaver waiting. Opening his eyes, he became aware of the tenuous silence still present among the agents. “Alright, then. Unless y’all wanna see my ass getting railed, how about you get back to work?” His posture was casual, but at his sharp tone, everyone snapped back to action. Slowly, the regular hum of their office started back up and worked at dispelling the terse air.

A soft touch to his arm brought Jeff’s attention back to Alona. “I’ll have a cup of hot coffee waiting for you when you get out,” she promised. Even though it really wasn’t anywhere in her job description to do so, Jeff appreciated the gesture regardless.

“You’re an angel,” he said, walking away to where Beaver was sequestered away.

Alona laughed. “Oh, honey. If I’m an angel, I’m the baddest one you’ll ever meet.”

He was still smiling when he let himself into the conference room Jim was waiting in, not bothering to knock on the partially opened door, but it slipped away when he registered the sight in front of him. “Jesus Christ.”

Jim looked up, rolling his eyes and looking back down at the file in his hands. “Sure, just make yourself at home, why dontcha,” he muttered.

Jeff paid it no heed, focus solely on the multiple photographs spread out on the large table in front of him. He barely had the mind to close the door behind him before someone got a glimpse of the pictures in clear view.

“What the fuck is this?”

Jim slammed the file shut, and it would’ve been more impressive if the file wasn’t so thin. He dropped it on the table, sliding it over to Jeff. “Got a call this morning. First glance, I’d say the body's been rotting for a while now, but can’t be sure until the medical reports come in. Forensics is still on the scene, so if you could hurry it up, we can officially begin investigating. That’s just the basic info we’ve pulled off from the address,” Jim nodded at the file as Jeff picked it up. There really wasn’t much, but that was to be expected.

Jeff nodded decisively. “Alright. If there isn’t anything else–”

“Nothing left but for you to git.”

“–Then, yeah. Have you assigned anyone else to the case?”

“You can go right on ahead and take Tal with you.”

Jeff paused. “You sure?”

Jim nodded. “The girl’s tougher than you give her credit for. She spent a term overseas, after all.”

“Yeah,  _ a _ term,” Jeff stressed, but Jim was already dismissing him.

“If the military failed to toughen her up, then this will harden the girl sooner than Tigerman’s balls dropped. She’ll survive.” Jim pushed when Jeff still didn’t leave. “Go, already, before I start loading up!”

Jeff did. He still didn’t trust Jim, maybe he would’ve if Jim’s eyes weren’t as uncertain as Jeff felt.

Regardless, Jeff rapped his knuckles on Alona’s desk as he passed by, swiping the coffee standing on the corner of it. “We’re leaving in five.” He announced shortly, taking a sip of the coffee as he swiftly made his way to the elevators. He didn’t have to wait long after pushing the button for it before Alona appeared at his side, sensible heels replaced with work boots. Jeff secretly admired her quick ability to transform from her office persona to field agent, even if he had no idea how she managed it.

The elevator bell dinged right as she arrived, and they stepped in together. “New case, then?” Alona asked.

Jeff nodded at Chau as they got in. Poor kid looked like a zombie, but Jeff had no doubts of the kid’s alert wariness of the guy he led before him in handcuffs. Chau may look like he’d rather sleep than chase after criminal assholes who might try to make a run for it, and while the assumption wasn’t exactly wrong, Jeff wouldn’t put it past the kid to have some sort of trap planted beforehand to prevent them from getting far.

Kid wasn’t much brawns, but he was one of the smartest brains they had. Too bad he was still only with the police force, but six months ago he was a mere rookie there too. Jeff gave him another two years max before he’d get to recruit Chau for his team.

“Something like that,” Jeff grumbled vaguely. “Hope you’ve got a strong stomach, kid.”

Alona threw him a scowl that mostly masked her confusion. “Ain’t a kid, old man.”

Normally, he’d take the jab with a dramatically wounded gasp. Now, he just gave her a thin smile, and her scowl completely gave way to confusion mingled with a touch of concern.

Despite her clear curiosity, they didn’t exchange another word until they got into the department’s allotted vehicle, at which point Jeff tossed her the thin file as she was still buckling herself.

“Forensics are still on the scene,” Jeff said, pulling onto the main road with a squeal of the tires before he righted the car. “But they sent us some preliminary photos. Best prepare yourself before you see it for real.”

Alona stayed quiet as she flipped through the few, key pictures that were in the file. The rest, Jim would sort out in the office as they came through, until Jeff returned and officially took over the investigation.

Jeff glanced at Alona from the side of his eyes. Before he could start worrying too much and consider turning around, though, she finally spoke.

“Wow,” she stated dryly, not looking up from the file. “Bet the department hasn’t seen something like this in a while.”

Jeff snorted, some of the tension draining away at Alona’s grim but steady expression. Not all of it slipped free from the terse line of his shoulders, however. “Sure,” he said. “You could say that.”

By the time they’d arrived on the scene, a quaint and what must’ve previously been a quiet suburban neighborhood, Jeff was dismayed to see the press already forming a crowd on the lawn, practically pushed against the caution tape to sneak as close as they could get.

“Friggin’ paps,” Jeff muttered as they got out of the car. Predictably, they swarmed over to him right away. Pushing through them with Alona hot on his heels, he merely held a hand up as they started shouting questions at him, almost shoving their microphones in his face. It took a lot of willpower to not stop and curse them out like he wanted to – they just got here, for Pete’s sake – but Jeff could be a professional when he wanted to be. It had nothing to do with the fact that Alona was still technically a newbie, and he’d already been chewed out once by one overprotective Samantha Ferris to set a better example for the girl she saw as her own daughter.

Now, wasn’t that a fun rabbit hole to tumble down into. He could’ve hugged Qualls when he came over as soon as they ducked under the caution tape, leaving the hounding journalists behind, but he beat him to it.

“Ah, JD! Good to see you, buddy!” Pressing his lips into a thin line, he patted the attending inspector on his back before he was released. “Can’t say the same, considering the circumstances.” Alona and DJ were bumping fists before DJ turned back to Jeff, smile appropriately toned down.

“Yeah, it’s a bad one.” He began to lead them into the house. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so gnarly in my jurisdiction. Would’ve been totally fine going on like that, too.” They walked into the living area, only a couple of forensic agents in the room. On the couch was victim number one. If it weren’t for the neck twisted at an unnatural angle, the old lady could’ve looked like she was just taking a nap.

Jeff crouched down beside the sofa, taking a closer look at the point of break. “Any evidence?” He asked DJ, nodding at Alona. From his peripherals, he saw Alona take out her notepad.

“Nope,” DJ said. Jeff narrowed his eyes at the faint discoloration around the woman’s neck. “None here, nothing downstairs either. Dunno how – the place is a bloodbath.” Taking out gloves from his pocket, he slipped them on. Carefully feeling along the woman’s neck, twisting her head this way and that gently before carefully lowering it back down as it’d been.

Jeff stood. “Mind showing us the way?” As DJ led them, he leaned towards Alona, keeping his voice low. “No fingerprints. I’d say our perp must’ve used his arms to make the break. Makes for a weird angle, but it’s still a smooth break from what I could feel. Gonna have to wait for the medical report to make sure.” Alona nodded, rapidly jotting down his words as they walked. When they came to a narrow, rickety staircase, he nudged her arm. They stopped at the doorway leading to a basement, pausing to slip on protective covers for their shoes before continuing. “I think I could safely say our killer’s someone pretty damn strong.” He eyed the chains hanging from the middle of the ceiling before he was forced to look back down to avoid falling through the gaps where the steps were either missing or broken. Jeff grimaced as he jumped over the last missing step, a loud squelching noise made when his protected shoes met with the blood and gore slicked floor. Holding a hand out, he helped Alona to step down with more grace.

The three came to a halt, standing side by side as they faced the remains of a corpse still hanging from the chains. Around them, the forensic agents continued to take pictures and sweep for evidence, unfazed.

“Jesus H. Christ,” Jeff breathed out. To his right, DJ crossed himself, keeping his head bent down as he muttered a prayer before looking back up.

“Yep. That’s how we found him,” DJ said, sounding regretful. “I’ll let you guys talk to our on site ME. I’ve gotta head back outside. Meet me out there if you need anything else.” With a small parting smile, he left, but not before directing the ME over to them. Jeff left Alona to deal with that, stepping away and inspecting the room, making mental notes for himself.

One thing was for sure, Jeff decided as he watched a forensic agent on a ladder carefully collect the brain matter stuck to the ceiling and scooping it into a plastic baggie. 

Whoever did this was a sadistic psychopath.

oOo

Jensen was lazily scrolling through his emails when Jared stuck a head out of the bathroom, a toothbrush in hand. “Hey, do you have any important deadlines coming up?” Jared asked through a mouth of foam.

Jensen scrunched up his face. “Not for another month at least. Why?”

Jared grinned at him, disappearing back into the bathroom without saying anything. Jensen could hear him spit and gargle water, the tap shutting off, and a couple more beats passing before Jared exited the bathroom. He was still smiling mysteriously, and Jensen all but abandoned his laptop as he shifted his full attention onto his boyfriend. “Why?” He repeated suspiciously.

Jared shook his head, climbing onto the bed beside Jensen. “So, you’ve got the week of Christmas free, right?” He questioned.

Jensen narrowed his eyes, but dutifully responded, though not without any snark. “Well, Jay. It’s not like I work a 9-5 job, so I don’t have to be anywhere. And they did only sign me up for book signings until Christmas week. The publishing company’s waiting to see how they’ll go collectively before they release further dates. So while nothin’s set in stone yet…”

“They'll quite possibly give you more dates.” Jared finished, humming thoughtfully.

Jensen shrugged. “I mean, yeah. Speight’s been saying positive things, so there’s a high probability there’ll be more pretty soon. I think he said there’s a chance I might even need to go out of state,” Jensen said, with no small amounts of trepidation.

Jared’s eyebrows shot up, clearly impressed. “Wow. That’s good… right?”

Jensen shrugged again, not really making a genuine effort to hide his unease at the prospect.

After the first signing, Fuller had disappeared without any real explanations. In his stead, the company had replaced him with a short but energetic man who’d soon let Jensen know they’d be interacting on a much more regular basis, and that he looked forward to getting to know Jensen outside of a computer screen.

Apparently, Richard Speight Jr. was the agent he’d been exchanging emails with since the company had picked Jensen up. In his defense, the guy went by ‘Dick’ over their emails, and his email ID had been ridiculously unhelpful providing better context, Jensen had always wondered how someone could get away with an untraditional user ID while still using the office email. Until he met the man before the second signing anyway. Smart and intelligent, Speight had pulled a few strings to get out of dealing with checking up on other clients’ progress via emails, opting for some field work in order to secure a position working as Jensen’s full time agent.

“ _ You’re a good writer and have a fruitful future in front of you _ .” Speight had succinctly informed Jensen. “ _ This is for me as much as it is for you _ .” 

Jensen hadn’t been sure what Speight meant exactly by the first part, but he soon found out as he was dragged all over New York for book signings every few days. It was only the first week of December, and Jensen had already attended four signings. He had another one this afternoon, after which he’d still have five left. Ten signings in the span of five weeks, but the crowd Jensen was met with never ceased to be outrageously high. It was crazy… but Jensen couldn’t say he minded it. Hell, once he actually got to meeting his readers one-on-one, his anxiety faded into the background enough to let him enjoy himself. It was just when waiting behind the scenes for them to call him out that had his nerves thrumming to the point of mind-numbing nausea that Jensen had yet to figure out how to eradicate properly so it wouldn’t continue tainting his experience. Texting Jared that first day, however briefly, had done wonders, settling him down that Speight’s later presence and jokes couldn’t entirely replicate. But so far, Jared had only been able to attend that first signing event, too busy trying to survive being swamped by long shifts and early calls after that, almost nonstop for a while. But today, Jared had the day off, and they were going to take advantage of it by going to the library together this time.

Jensen survived the past three signings by himself, probably better than he would’ve if he had to deal with Kurt Fuller along with Jared’s lack of reassuring presence. But Speight was amazing and made the experience worthwhile as best as he could. The guy was easygoing and knew exactly how to make Jensen laugh whenever it seemed like things were getting too much for Jensen. That being said, Jensen was glad he was going to have Jared again – bless Speight, when Jensen had offhandedly mentioned not needing a ride because his boyfriend would be driving him, Speight had quickly managed to make Jensen tell him all about Jared, which he’d easily done. By the time he’d finished gushing, Speight put down his phone – which he’d been absently but rapidly tapping away on – and smugly informed Jensen that they could let Jared sit with him during the signing. Off to the side, but still.

Jensen would be forever grateful if Speight wasn’t lying and could stay as his full-time agent.

However, no matter how awesome Speight was, flying out of state for book signings? Was a whole ‘nother topic Jensen didn’t even want to think about.

“At least, I’m pretty sure they won’t be assigning me anything until after New Years,” Jensen responded. “Which should leave me free for whatever nefarious plans you have for me.” He said, weakly trying to steer the conversation away and back to why they’d even started talking about this in the first place.

Trust his boyfriend to not let him off the hook that easily, however.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Eyebrows bunched together in concern, Jared pushed himself onto his side, throwing an arm over Jensen to make him face Jared as he pulled Jensen closer. Avoiding eye contact, Jensen kept his eyes trained on Jared’s tantalizing abs as he absently traced the lines of it with a finger. Jared didn’t look distracted at all by the soft touch, annoyingly enough.

“I just…” Jensen sighed, letting his head drop between them onto the bed. “I don’t… I don’t think I wanna go. If they do decide to announce more dates.”

Jared picked up his hand, interlacing their fingers. “Why not?”

Jensen admired the way their skin looked pressed together, Jared’s tanned hand a contrast from Jensen’s paler, faintly freckled one. He was trying to not think too hard about the question, hoping what he’d have to say would be easier if he didn’t really listen to himself saying the words. “I…. it’s probably stupid, but… I don’t wanna leave you,” Jensen mumbled to their joint hands.

There was a pause before Jared pulled his hands free, Jensen regretfully letting go and bracing himself for Jared’s inevitable freak out. Except, there was a soft touch to his chin, guiding his head up so he could meet Jared’s eyes.

“It’s not stupid,” Jared said earnestly. “Really,” he insisted when Jensen looked at him disbelievingly. “Jens, I swear, if I could, I’d be right beside you on a plane to wherever you gotta go.” Jared leaned forward, pressing a chaste kiss to Jensen’s lips. Closing his eyes, Jensen let himself sink into the kiss before Jared pulled back. He didn’t go far though, keeping their foreheads connected, his hand moving from Jensen’s chin to the back of his neck. “No matter what, though, even if I can’t be there with you physically, I’ll still be thinking about you. You know that, right?”

Jensen smiled, placing his hand on Jared’s chest. “Yeah,” he said softly. “I will – I would, too.”

Jared rubbed the back of Jensen’s neck soothingly. “And we could always FaceTime… technology’s been a great invention. Because don’t think, I, for one, won’t be taking advantage of being able to text you constantly.”

Jensen huffed out, amused. “We already do that.”

Jared grinned as he leaned back. “See? Why would I stop that anytime soon, then?”

Helpless, Jensen grinned as well. The tension seeped out of his muscles by a fraction, nerves momentarily abated in the face of his boyfriend’s cheery optimism. “You’re a dork,” he said fondly.

Jared suddenly tugged Jensen close again, startling him enough to make him collide against Jared’s chest. “I’m your dork,” he retorted cheekily, but it was mumbled against Jensen’s lips, and Jared’s hands went wandering, the atmosphere in the room heated up, and pretty soon after that, Jensen stopped thinking entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, pretty pretty please?? We’re even halfway through the fic!!!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aight fair warning, starting from this chapter my fic hasn’t been edited like at all sooo apologies for all the typos (feel free to point them out and I’ll fix them as soon as I can!!)

Jeff was staring at the updated file in his hands, facing the photos he could now see with his eyes closed. The file was only marginally thicker, now including the forensic report, the medical report, and information on the victims. If the case wasn’t serious and already heading in one direction, Jeff would’ve gotten sidetracked by some photographs and other evidence found in Andrew Dabb’s basement. As it was, he pinned the information away for later.

Currently, he was waiting for Alona to finish hooking up the surveillance videos of the Dabbs’ neighborhood to the projector in the conference room. As promised, Jim officially handed full rein of the investigation to Jeff and cleared out shortly afterwards. Technically, Jeff could’ve been recruiting a whole team for the case – something told him he’d be needing it – but it was gonna have to wait.

Right on cue, Alona cleared her throat, stepping away from the jumble of wires and reaching for a remote. Christ’s sake, it was the twenty-first century, and there was still a whole cubic foot of wires like some sort of modern ball of twine. Weren’t they supposed to be going completely wireless already – or at least, sleek and compact or some shit?

“This,” Alona fiddled around with the remote until, pretty soon, they were looking at a quaint neighborhood with an easy view of the front of the Dabb’s residence. “Was the day the Dabb’s murder was called in,” she said, keeping her eyes on the elderly neighbor getting off the front porch, having waited several minutes after ringing the doorbell, and walking to the side of the house.

But Jeff was already shaking his head. “Show me the day of the murder…” He glanced down at the file in his hands. “December first.”

Alona dutifully rewinded the recording back a few days until the timestamp at the corner showed the appropriate date, but Jeff stopped her before she could rewind all the way to the start of the day.

“Hold on.” She paused, but then hit play when Jeff only leaned forward with narrowed eyes. “Speed it up just a little,” he instructed. 

They watched as a large delivery truck came to a shuddering halt right in front of Dabbs’ house, blocking their view of the front door. A man came out of the driver’s seat, popping open the hood and staring down at his truck. Within a few minutes, he finished messing around and closed the hood, getting back in his truck. A second passed before the engine came to life, and the truck was slowly driving away again. The Dabbs’ house came back into view, nothing appearing to have changed.

Jeff leaned back, putting the file on the large table behind him that took up most of the room’s space. Leaning against it, he crossed his arms and nodded to Alona again. “Play it from the beginning.”

This time, he let her rewind to midnight sharp. There wasn’t any activity at all for a few minutes, so Alona slowly increased the playback speed. By five AM, the neighborhood began to wake up, cars driving past, early morning joggers running with their dogs, but no one went into the vics’ house. At half past one in the afternoon, when no one else was around, the front door opened, and Andrew Dabb came out.

“Reports from the neighbors say Dabb only came out of the house to go to the park on a regular basis,” Alona piped up. Dabb disappeared out of the camera’s view, and four minutes later, the delivery truck was crawling into the frame.

“Patricia Dabb’s time of death was one thirty-eight, right?” Jeff asked. The timestamp in the corner read one thirty-six by the time the truck started moving shakily.

“Yep.” Alona paused the recording, the truck still on the screen and the words on the side of it clearly visible.

Jeff nodded, pushing away from the table.

“Grab your gear. Looks like we found ourselves our first suspect to interview.”

oOo

Chad Michael Murray was not at all the type of guy Jeff was expecting. Walking into a butcher shop, Jeff knew how the person they were meeting looked. But Jeff hadn’t been prepared whatsoever for the stocky blond to emanate the personality of a trust fund jock, a harsh contrast from the rest of the environment.

“What can I do for the fine couple this evening?” Murray leaned an arm on the counter separating him from Jeff and Alona. He was shamelessly leering at Alona, who Jeff noted from the corner of his eyes, didn’t look impressed at all.

Taking lead, Jeff reached into his pocket for his badge, Alona following suit. “I’m Special Agent Morgan, this is my partner, Agent Tal.” He gestured to Alona with his chin, allowing Murray to take in his fill of the badge before pocketing it. When he did, Murray’s eyes were more guarded as he turned his complete focus onto Jeff.

“I’m guessing the Feds aren’t making a house-call because they wanna put in a customized order for delivery,” Murray said with narrowed eyes.

Jeff smiled in response, although there were no traces of amusement on his face. “We’re here because we’re investigating the deaths of Patricia and Andrew Dabb.”

Murray’s face was blank before slowly morphing to confusion when Jeff didn’t continue. He looked back and forth between Alona and Jeff dubiously. “Those don’t sound like my pigs’ names,” Murray said slowly. “So pardon me if I don’t get what’s going on here.”

Jeff sighed, Alona blessedly stepping up to slam a couple of pictures of the Dabbs on the counter. Murray jumped back, startled at Alona’s sudden approach. “These two,” Alona said briskly. “You know them?”

Murray still looked like he had no idea what they were talking to him for, but he frowned down at the photos all the same. To his credit, he took his time scrutinizing the pictures, scratching the side of his buzzed head with a blunt nail.

Eventually, he shrugged, leaning back. “Sorry, can’t say I recognize them.” Murray crossed his arms, posture defiant, and Jeff could tell it was now going to be harder to pry questions out of the man.

“I understand you must get a lot of customers,” Jeff tried, “but do you mind checking your records to see if they’ve ever ordered a delivery from you?”

Murray didn’t move. “Now why would I do that?” He questioned suspiciously. “Unless you’ve got a warrant–”

“Look,” Alona cut in harshly. She abruptly softened her posture when Chad shifted his eyes onto her. “Chad, right?” She asked, leaning forward on the counter. Murray’s eyes flashed down for the briefest second, and Jeff immediately knew what Alona was playing at. He surreptitiously moved back and away, letting her work her magic.

Murray nodded begrudgingly.

“Chad, it would really help us out a lot,” Alona’s voice dropped coyly. “If you could just check your records, please? You’d be doing us–” she flicked her eyes over to Jeff before peering back at Murray through her lashes. Tracing a finger along the edges of the photographs, she crossed her arms in a move that Jeff knew would enhance her cleavage – not that he’d ever had firsthand experience of it as a direct witness or recipient. He’d never looked at Alona that way. She might be cunning, experienced, and able to hold her own, but she still felt too much like jailbait for Jeff, late twenties she may have been.

“You’d be doing  _ me _ a huge favor if you could just help a girl out here,” Alona said, her voice having dropped further until it was practically sultry.

There was no way it could be legal or even ethical for an agent to flirt with a suspect just to get information, but. Well. Jeff wasn’t gonna check the workbook when it usually–

“Fine,” Murray snapped. He booted up the computer at the edge of the counter, pulling out a thick record book as he did so.

–Worked more efficiently.

Leaning back, Alona shot Jeff a triumphant grin. He rolled his eyes back at her, shaking his head minutely. By the time Murray turned back to them, Jeff’s face was stoic, while Alona was smiling innocently.

“You said Dabb, right?” He waited for them to nod affirmatively. “Yeah, like I said. I don’t have their names on my record. Sorry.” He added, although his tone and slight glare at Jeff indicated he wasn’t sorry at all.

“One last thing,” Jeff said smoothly, stepping forward. “And then we’ll be out of your hair.” Whatever hair the guy’s mostly shaved head had. He ignored Murray’s growing scowl. “Could you recount to us the events which occurred on the first of December?”

Murray shot him a flabbergasted look. “What the hell? I don’t even remember what I had for breakfast two days ago!”

Jeff looked pointedly to the computer and record book. It took a while for Murray to follow his line of sight, but when he did, he huffed, muttering something under his breath as he flipped through some pages.

“Right, well. I was packing up orders in the morning, out for deliveries during the afternoon, and…” he clicked around on the ancient computer. “Back in the shop preparing the cuts for the next day’s orders before closing.” He crossed his arms again as he faced Jeff. “Just the usual day at work.” He jutted his chin out, clearly defensive of, what Jeff supposed were completely legal and unsuspicious activities. Jeff wasn’t done here yet, however.

“Yes, about that.” Reaching back into his long coat, Jeff pulled out a folded print out of the surveillance video, paused on the image of Murray standing at the hood of his truck conveniently in front of the Dabbs’ house. “Do you mind explaining to us what you were doing outside the Dabb’s home only minutes before Patricia Dabb’s murder?”

Murray’s eyes bugged out as he snatched the print out, staring down at it with wide eyes. A second passed before he let out a shaky laugh, lowering the print out to the counter beside the photographs with a trembling hand. “That–that’s my–my truck,” he stammered, looking pale. “It’s been acting up for a while now. Haven't gone to the mechanic yet, so it’s been stopping at all sorts of random moments.” Murray rubbed a hand over his head, still looking down at the print out. “I’ve taken to driving back roads ‘cause I didn’t wanna risk breaking down in the middle of traffic. Inconvenient, but I wasn’t too pissed off about it or anything,” he suddenly looked up at Jeff with fearful eyes. “You’re telling me I was outside this house when a little old lady was getting killed?”

“Minutes before,” Jeff corrected. He watched Murray closely as he reached out. Murray didn’t stop him from taking back the photographs, but he left the print out for the moment. “Did you see anything suspicious when your truck got stuck there? Hear something weird, see someone sneaking around or the like?” Jeff asked bluntly.

Murray shook his head. “Naw, street was pretty empty from what I remember. And I was too focused on my truck, but I know I didn’t hear anything like…” He gulped down at the print out.

Jeff narrowed his eyes, but then nodded once, briskly. “That’s all we need for now. Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Murray.” He took the print out, folding it and putting it back in his pocket.

“Chad,” Murray corrected, though it didn’t seem like he was entirely conscious of it. “Mr. Murray’s my dad.”

Jeff nodded again. He turned to leave, Alona following, before he paused, turning back around and taking out a card. “Here’s my number. Call us if you remember anything different.” He waited for Murray to take the card before smiling professionally. “Have a good day, Chad.”

Alona hurried after him as he exited. He subconsciously took a deep breath of the fresh air as she caught up to him and walked at his side, steps swifter than usual as she fought to keep up with his comparatively longer stride in her heels. “So… what’re you thinking?” She asked knowingly.

Jeff came to a stop on the sidewalk, turning to face her but looked back towards the shop contemplatively. “He’s got the build for the murder. I don’t think he killed the Dabbs.” He said shortly. Alona raised her eyebrows, but waited. “He’s still a suspect, though.”

Alona smirked. “Figured you’d say that.”

Jeff shrugged as they resumed walking. “Can’t cross out anyone on the list yet.”

oOo

The conference room was beginning to fill with people and evidence, but to Jeff, neither was helping. Sure, he knew he had his reasons for recruiting Tigerman and Heafey, but running on almost no sleep and mostly caffeine by Monday, he couldn’t recall a damned reason why he did that. Really. It wasn’t helping that someone took to pinning newspaper clippings of the murder since they’d cautiously released information to the press onto the evidence board. Jeff knew what the article contained – and what it didn’t – about the murders. What he didn’t know was what the press were saying about the FBI’s involvement with the case so far, nor did he particularly care for wasting his time on that either.

Sipping coffee from his… however many-‘th’ cup, Jeff made a mental note to tell Tigerman to quit it with the newspaper clippings. Why their tech-savvy agent was bothering with paper was beyond Jeff, but what mattered was how much space the clippings were taking up.

Glowering at their evidence board, he didn’t notice Alona coming in until she dropped something right in front of him. Shooting her a scathing look, which she easily ignored, he looked down. And groaned.

“You too?” He asked, feeling equal parts betrayed and outraged at the day’s newspaper deposited right atop his notes.

“Press is hounding us,” Alona informed instead. She plopped down onto one of the chairs in front of him, kicking her feet up on the table. “Beaver isn’t too happy about it.”

Jeff rolled his eyes, even as he absently read through the article anyway. “When have you ever seen Beaver happy?” Not really wanting to but finding himself absorbing the words anyway, something tickled in the back of Jeff’s mind.

“Touché,” Alona said. “He mentioned he’ll keep them off as long as he can. Ideally, they’ll leave us be around Christmas, but Beaver wants something from us by the time New Year’s rolls by.

“‘Course he does,” Jeff muttered. He glared down at the article, almost scoffing at a name. Trust Cohan to start poking her nose ‘round where it didn’t belong. Shaking his head, Jeff pushed the newspaper away rather viciously. “Where’s Heafey?”

oOo

The book signings ended without anything too grandeur, having all passed with what Jensen decided to be reasonable excitement. Jared had managed to accompany him for most of the signings which occurred during the weekends and Fridays, and after four out of the five signings Jensen had to attend, Jared and Speight were starting to… Jensen wanted to say they were getting along, but their dynamic wouldn’t have been seen as such by an outsider.

Speight, ever jovial and mischievous, would constantly bombard Jared with borderline scathing jokes, but Jared would only give back as good as he got. By the end of the day, Jensen was more often than not left disoriented, while Speight would be overcome with delighted laughter, and Jared would just smirk the entire time. For his own sanity, Jensen didn’t question any of it.

Despite all the shits and literal giggles, however, Jensen was still glad to have gotten all the events over with. Speight was great and all, things even more so brighter when Jared was with them, and Jensen’s readers were amazing people to meet, but soon, Jensen craved to return to the normalcy of his more reserved schedule. He’d barely been able to properly focus on getting some writing done, and by the time Jensen had come home from his last signing, he’d been seriously debating on just locking himself away in his bedroom for the entirety of the rest of the weekend, not surfacing to the real world until he made satisfactory progress.

Jared just stared at him quietly the entire time they got ready for bed the Friday night of the last signing. Jensen desperately needed to sleep, first and foremost. The next morning, Jared woke Jensen up with a kiss to his forehead and a wonderfully steaming hot cup of coffee before informing him that he was gonna take the dogs out for a run and work on some chores waiting for him back at his apartment. For a while, Jensen had fretted, wondering if he’d unintentionally done something to push Jared away when Jared took his leave. It lasted until he got to his laptop though, and then Jensen was lost to the world. Only taking short breaks to eat or use the restroom, Jensen didn’t sleep well either. Not only was he too hyped up about finally getting the opportunity to write, but his dreams were morphing from interrupted scenes to a disappointed Jared’s face. Fitful and waking up feeling more restless than before he’d slept, Jensen dove right back into writing.

When he was finally starting to calm down, something within him settling once he’d managed to complete a good chunk of writing, it was the sound of his doorbell to have rudely brought Jensen back to reality. Out of habit, he’d checked the clock at the corner of his laptop screen, and blanched when the date finally registered in his mind. It was a Sunday night. He’d been working almost nonstop since Saturday morning, and… and the doorbell continued to persistently ring.

He wasn’t really conscious of how he looked until he opened the front door to find Jared standing outside. His boyfriend always dressed to impress, but this time, there was something that highlighted his simple slacks and white, v-necked shirt under a black blazer. And the something was quite possibly the bouquet of roses in Jared’s hands.

Jensen, abruptly made aware of how he hadn’t showered since Friday morning, gaped as Jared regarded his rumpled form shrewdly. “But… don’t you have a key?” He said rather stupidly.

Jared winked. “I’m taking you out on a date,” he explained. “Why don’t you go take a shower and get ready?” Jared asked with a kind smile. 

Jensen could only allow him inside wordlessly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel Tigerman plays that dude from the Simon says episode w the obi wan mind skills (the good twin) whose name I currently cannot remember  
> Jessica Heafey player Gwen Campbell, the Winchesters’ cousin
> 
> Loved your comments from last chapter! Can I get more like them?


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT!!! So I’m an idiot who realized I reused this one character I’d already written soo I had to go back and change the first characterization of the person. So FYI an update: earlier in the story I’d written Osric Chau as a medical technician. That has now been changed to Chad Lindberg (guy who plays ash) instead  
> In other news... hotdamn you guys!! I have a total of 92k written for this fic!!!! (And it’s still in progress, but I’m getting closer and closer to the end regardless!)

Spending time with Jensen was easily more preferable than anything else, but Jared could still recognize the fidgeting disposition Jensen began to unconsciously adopt. Personally, Jared would’ve much rather screwed the agitation out of Jensen, but he held back, promising to himself that he would return no later than the end of the weekend.

He genuinely did need to attend to some… things, anyway. Finishing them had been a long time coming.

Sunday night, Jared left his dogs home, promising them he’d be back soon for them, and drove to Jensen’s.

He wasn’t surprised to see Jensen look the same as when he’d left him, if more unkempt, when he answered the door. It only steeled Jared’s resolve for what he’d planned for the night. While Jensen disappeared upstairs to freshen up, Jared let himself into the kitchen, digging around for a vase.

He just got the flowers in it, the tips of the stems cut off and submerged in water, and was placing the vase on the center of the island for the time being when Jensen returned.

“Is this okay?” Jared looked Jensen over. Wearing a navy blue knitted sweater over jeans, he looked simple, but he definitely knew how to clean up well.

Jared smiled reassuringly. “You look perfect,” he said, drawing Jensen close. Throwing an arm around Jensen’s waist, he pulled him even closer until Jensen was flush against him, pressing a long kiss to the side of Jensen’s head. His eyes closed as he inhaled the scent of Jensen’s cologne deeply. “Missed you.”

Jensen’s arms wrapped around Jared’s neck. “I did too,” he confessed. “I thought–” he broke off, shaking his head against Jared’s shoulder. Jared frowned, but before he could pull back, Jensen kept going. “I don’t know what I thought… I guess I felt like I accidentally upset you?”

This time, Jared did pull back, a deeper frown etched into his face as he fought to correct Jensen without giving him the chance to go on. “I wasn’t upset,” Jared said slowly. “Jens, you’ve been pushing yourself a lot, lately. I figured you could do with some space and just to rejuvenate.” He explained seriously.

Flushing, Jensen kept his head down, avoiding Jared’s gaze. “I did think of that being a possible scenario,” he admitted. “But I wasn’t thinking too logically for long for it to stick.”

Jared sighed, drawing Jensen back into a hug again. “Haven’t I told you this already?” He asked rhetorically. Technically, he wasn’t sure if he’d actively said it aloud yet, but now was a good time as any. “You’re mine, sweetheart, and I don’t plan on letting you go easily,” ‘ _ or ever,’  _ but he wisely refrained from adding that. In an attempt to decrease the creepiness of his words, he softly nuzzled Jensen’s cheek. “So don’t go ‘round thinking I’m gonna be chased off for just about anything.” He pressed a kiss to the corner of Jensen’s lips. “I’d fight to keep you by my side.”

Jensen leaned back, Jared reluctantly allowing him to put some distance between them so Jensen could peer up at him. Looking at Jared with shiny eyes, Jensen blinked rapidly, mouth working uselessly before he managed to find his voice. “That’s… the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

‘ _ I can show you how you deserve to be treated, like no one else ever did or will, Jens.’  _ “Clearly, people haven’t been treating you right, then.” Jared shot back, words heated with conviction. Flustered, Jensen looked away, not saying anything. For some reason, Jared’s heart clenched. He was leaning forward and kissing Jensen before he realized it, trying to appease the ache in his chest so it would go away. He didn’t stop until they were both breathless, Jensen’s lips perfectly swollen, and even then, he kept Jensen pressed tight against his body. “We should leave,” Jared whispered, but didn’t move. “I wanted to take you out tonight.”

He should’ve known Jensen’s curiosity would win out, or maybe he did and was depending on it, because Jensen was instantly opening his eyes, the fog of lust rapidly clearing. “Where are we going?”

Jared grinning, allowing the distance appearing between them. He didn’t mind it, not when Jensen never felt closer and firmly secure in his metaphoric grasp. “You’ll see.”

oOo

“I really hope you’re not taking me to another one of your bar hop things,” Jensen said later.

Jared snorted. After that disastrous event that ended in a way even Jared wasn’t expected, he’d bowed out from the rest of them since. Sterling must’ve had the brains to keep his mouth shut, because Jared wasn’t treated any differently in the hospital. The only change was a subdued Sterling whenever they so much as crossed paths, but no one bothered to question the change in the standard dick’s behavior.

“Nah, we agreed you wanted quiet, remember?” Jared said. “After all that, ending your weekend with a bang doesn’t seem like the most appropriate choice here,” he joked.

Jensen chuckled. “Yeah, I’m usually game for your plans, but a bar hop right now would seriously tempt me to jump out of this moving car.” He paused, falling silent as Jared pulled off the main road and flicked on the high beams. Beyond the headlights was darkness – they were still too close to the city for the moon and stars to really show, and there was a significant lack of streetlights that had Jensen shifting uncomfortably. “You’re… really not upset, right?” Jensen said, trying to sound light. “Because taking a crime writer into the middle of the woods at night… don’t know what you’re thinking, Jay, but this isn’t creepy at all.” Jensen laughed unconvincingly. Shaking his head, Jared smiled, taking a hand off of the steering wheel to place it reassuringly on Jensen’s thigh.

“Relax,” Jared said. “I just wanted to show you something. ‘Sides, I’d never murder you,” he said, a depth of utter genuity in his words that Jensen most likely missed.

“Wow,” Jensen deadpanned. “How romantic.” He still took Jared’s hand in both of his, squeezing tightly. They didn’t say anything else as Jared continued to drive, though Jared noted how clammy Jensen’s hands were increasingly becoming as Jared drove through the wooded area, long since having driven off any marked roads. But Jared remained calm as usual, hoping his demeanor would relax Jensen somewhat. Usually, his frightening intensity of when he’d remain cool and collected would agitate Jared’s victims further, but he wasn’t lying when he said he’d never kill Jensen. If anything, harming him was the last thing Jared had in mind.

He’d gotten this far with making Jensen his, and he’d do anything to keep things as such. So needless to say, Jared didn’t intend to even lay a finger like that on Jensen.

A few more minutes of quiet driving broken only by the crunch of twigs and whatever else littered this section of mostly abandoned woods now had Jensen occasionally glancing at Jared, looking for all the world like he was dying to break the relative silence and say something. Before he actually could, though, Jared was easing his foot off the accelerator, making the already slow moving car decrease speed even more until it was practically at a crawl as they pulled into a clearing. 

Winking at Jensen, Jared turned the car off and swiftly got out, moving to the trunk before Jensen could react. He was just getting the portable lights out first when the front passenger door opened.

“Jay?” Jensen hesitantly called out.

Grinning, Jared tucked the blankets under his arms, and then picked up the lights, one in each hand. “Yep.” He moved to the center of the clearing, spreading out the blanket. Placing the old fashioned lanterns at the edge, he pulled out a lighter from his pocket, lighting up the candles encased within glass before moving back to the trunk.

“What…” Jensen stood by the car, staring and remaining otherwise unmoving until Jared finally closed the trunk with a slam, reappearing at Jensen’s side with a picnic basket in one hand, and a bottle of sparkling cider in the other.

“Join me?” Jared quietly asked, but he was still grinning widely, probably coming across as a loon. But with Jensen following anyway, Jared didn’t care one single bit about how crazy he must’ve looked.

Jensen finally regained his voice as they were sitting down on the blanket, laid out to protect them from the damp earth. “You brought me out to the middle of nowhere for a picnic?” He asked, bewildered.

Jared abruptly hushed him, making Jensen’s eyes grow wider. “Listen,” he instructed softly. Jensen looked like he was deciding that Jared was very much crazy indeed at that moment, but he closed his eyes to listen all the same.

Careful not to make any noise, Jared leaned back, keeping his eyes on Jensen, watching and waiting. A couple moments passed, and then Jensen’s eyes were opening, a slow, incredulous look mixed with excitement on his face. This time, when he spoke, it was a hushed whisper, tone reverent. “Is that…?”

Jared nodded. “The hustle of New York, everyone knows about that,” Jared said, keeping his own voice down. “It’s all that people come to expect from here. What they don’t realize is, if you go looking hard enough, and stay quiet long enough, there are still parts of New York that haven't been tainted by industrialization; that hasn’t lost its simple, natural roots.”

“It’s beautiful,” Jensen breathed out. He turned his head back to the trees, eyes searching in vain as a bird called out, louder than the others, but after a moment, he gave up and closed his eyes, losing himself to the sounds of nature.

Letting Jensen take in all the noises, from the insects and birds and frogs all remaining unseen, Jared watched, quietly content, as Jensen gradually began to relax further, his muscles loosening and limbs falling slack. He looked so utterly in peace, the candle’s soft, slight sting lights casting an ethereal glow on his cheeks… Jensen looked delectable, and as much as Jared felt like Jensen was his prey, just asking to be caught and played with before Jared absolutely ravished him… Jared didn’t budge an inch, losing himself in watching Jensen being lost to nature.

Finally, Jensen opened his eyes, the faint traces of a smile still lingering on his lips when he turned to Jared. “Thank you,” he said, voice hoarse. “For bringing me out here. I don’t know why I ever doubted you.” Jared scoffed, about to rebuke, but Jensen leaned forward and kissed him, silencing whatever Jared had been about to say. He certainly didn’t mind the slight change in plans though, as he gradually began to lean back, taking Jensen’s weight when he practically began to blanket Jared’s body with his own. Several long minutes passed like that, with Jared now on his back and Jensen mostly atop him, the two leisurely exchanging kisses, in no hurry to slow down or stop. The noises from the wood’s various creatures were drowned out from Jared’s mind, overtaken by the sounds of their spit-slicked lips coming together again and again, neither of them willing to stay parted for long whenever one of them did pull back for air.

The candles were halfway to burning out when Jensen let his head rest on Jared’s shoulder, silently ending the kiss even as a hand traced random patterns on Jared’s chest. Jared had his own hands firmly wrapped around Jensen’s waist, and apart from the ever present urge to turn them around and take Jensen just like that until the world around them fell completely silent to Jensen’s screams of pleasure, Jared was content to just lay there as well. Slowly, their breathing evened back out, subconsciously matching the others’, but as the heat of their desire thrummed down and ebbed away into the background, Jensen was the first to become aware of the cold air seeping through his knitted shirt, making him shiver. Jared pulled his hands out from under Jensen’s shirt, secretly hating the loss of bare skin under his palms, but valiantly rubbed against Jensen’s sides in an attempt to stave off the chill. Whatever moment they shared between them was lost, however, as Jensen began to reluctantly sit up.

“You prepared a picnic for us, didn’t you?” Jensen looked pointedly at the basket and the bottle of sparkling cider beside them, so Jared forced himself up into a seated position as well. It was a bit of a challenge to reach for the basket instead of Jensen, but he persevered.

“I did,” Jared opened the basket, taking out the sandwiches he’d prepared back at his apartment. “I’d say I hope you didn’t eat, but that would be a lie. I should probably focus on feeding you after this weekend anyway.”

Even in the dim light of the candles, Jensen’s blush was adorably visible. “Shut up and feed me,” he snarked.

Not at all offended, Jared handed him a sandwich, letting Jensen unwrap it from its Saran Wrap while he proceeded to unearth a multitude of pastries from the basket. Jensen paused, mid-bite, when Jared took one tray out in particular. “Is that cake?” 

Jared casually shrugged as he set it off to the side. “We never properly celebrated how well-received your latest book was.”

Jensen groaned. “You’re unbelievable.” He was still smiling, though, and it never completely disappeared, even when Jared began to eat his own sandwich.

Jared waited for Jensen to be well in the middle of his second sandwich before he spoke. “So, you’re done with your book signings.”

Jensen nodded, and then shrugged. “For now,” he said through a full mouth. 

Jared grimaced, but acquiesced. “For now. But it’s Christmas week.”

Jensen frowned. Swallowing, he put his sandwich down as he stared at Jared rather suspiciously. “So it is.”

Jared grinned at Jensen’s growing impatience. “I have a few days off this week,” he began. “No one really wants to be booked for a surgery around Christmas. So I was thinking…”

“Jesus Christ, just spit it out already!”

Jared almost laughed aloud, but he held it back. He carefully put his own sandwich away, looking at Jensen seriously with utter focus. “I’ve got a couple of flight tickets booked for a few days. What do you say we take a little vacation?”

Jensen gaped. Jared patiently waited, in no hurry to fill the silence up unnecessarily as Jensen processed. “How–what–but, where?” He finally stammered.

Jared shook his head. “It’s a surprise. But it’s only for a few days. We’ll be back before New Years.”

Jensen stared, falling silent again. This time, he kept his mouth closed, his sandwich forgotten on his lap. “I mean – yes. Okay?” Jensen said doubtfully. He shook his head at himself, taking a deep breath. “I–yeah. Okay.” He said more firmly.

Jared smiled, and Jensen slowly picked his sandwich back up, dazed.

oOo

Jensen was a menace when it came to preparing for the trip. He’d made a big deal about not knowing what to pack until Jared all but shoved him out of the bedroom to pack Jensen’s suitcase himself. Getting to the airport wasn’t entirely uneventful either, although, at least Jensen didn’t make too big of a fuss about forgetting to turn off the stove or something.

That was mainly due to Jared being the one to mostly cook, and he knew without a doubt that Jensen’s house wasn’t going to be in the danger of burning down. Or broken into. And, yes, Jensen, everything was put away, and no, he was sure he didn’t forget anything they might need for wherever they were going.

Somehow, Jared managed to keep Jensen distracted from their flight details as he took care of handling their boarding passes, and even when boarding the flight. It sounded harder than it actually was; a few calculated touches and properly timed kisses had Jensen a little  _ too _ distracted, but they managed to get on the flight without scandalizing anyone.

All in all, Jared’s patience was definitely tested in regards to not wanting to hurt Jensen. He refrained, if only because they didn’t have the time or place for Jared to fuck Jensen senseless. Sure, he briefly considered blowing off some steam by introducing Jensen to the wonders of the Mile High Club, but that lasted for as long as they were taking off. By the time they were in the air and Jared felt like he could look at Jensen without his emotions getting the best of him, Jensen was already asleep in his seat.

Ever so slightly peeved, Jared shook his head, but settled in for the few hours they would be flying all the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here had been some yummy j2 fluff ;) Lmk what you thought? More of it coming in the next chapter too!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo I meant to post this on Wednesday? Oops? Hope the content makes up for the delay!

“You brought me to Florida?” Jensen goggled as they stepped out of the airport and into the heat, the difference in weather from New York’s colder winter immediately making itself known.

Jared grinned, not bothered by the lack of help in loading their suitcases into a taxi he’d hailed. “Welcome to Key Biscayne, sweetheart.”

“Holy shit, Jay.” Jared’s grin grew wider as Jensen turned his gawking stare onto him. He allowed Jared to herald him into the car, but the childish awe with which he was staring at their surroundings didn’t dissipate. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“Then don’t,” Jared said, shrugging. “Just enjoy the view.” Pecking him on the cheek, he leaned forward to double check that the driver knew where they had to go.

Sleeping on the flight must’ve clearly done Jensen some good, especially after their early morning wake-up call, because he continued to avidly watch the scenery passing by with unending enthusiasm. He had Jared’s arm gripped in his hands, sporadically squeezing with his excitement.

After the initial traffic contesting the airport, their ride was a lot more swift to their destination, and they soon arrived at the Ritz-Carlton hotel Jared had booked a room at for the duration of their stay. Too busy gawping at the picturesque view, Jensen numbly let Jared check them in and lead them to their room. Entering the Residential Suite finally broke the bespectacled spell Jensen was under.

“Jesus, Jay. This is so extravagant – how much are you paying for all of this?” Jensen asked, after spinning around in a circle in place and taking in as much of the suite as he could from a single glance. Leaving their luggage where it was by the door, Jared walked over to Jensen, grabbing him by the shoulders.

“Hey. I’m a surgeon, remember?” He reminded. “And you’re a best-selling author. You don’t gotta worry about how much I’m spending or whatever. Anyway, it’s not like I haven’t been frugal with my money. Now that I’ve got you though?” Jared smiled, soft and sweet. “Lemme pamper you, Jens. What else am I gonna do with my money if I don’t lavish you with everything you deserve?”

Jensen blushed, but leaned into Jared. “Not entirely true,” he mumbled. “You drive the latest Mercedes-Benz. That’s not exactly frugal. And don’t tell me the place you live at comes with a cheap rent. Waterline Square?” Jensen raised an eyebrow at him.

Jared chuckled. He decided he probably shouldn’t mention how he was considering buying a Tesla as a New Year’s gift to himself right now, even though he was definitely planning on surprising Jensen with it. He couldn’t imagine any better methods of christening his new car than by testing out its space by fucking Jensen in the backseat. “What can I say, I like my fancy digs and car. Other than that?” He bent down to look Jensen in the eye. “I’ve got more than enough in my bank account to spoil you like I want to. So, stop fretting, alright?”

Jensen still looked faintly unsure, but with a deep breath, he ever so slightly loosened the tense line in his shoulders. “Sorry, I’m just… not used to being treated so royally, I guess.” He let out a self-deprecating laugh, not meeting Jared’s eyes. “Hell, the first thing I let myself spend my money on for myself was my place, and that was mainly ‘cause as much as I love the city, I didn’t wanna live smack in the middle of all that bustle, you know?” At Jared’s understanding nod, he went on. “Apart from that, I never really went out much anyway. I was always just so into my own world of writing that I never needed to spend money on myself. I mean, I’d always send money to Mack for whatever she needed, but this…”

Jensen gently drew away from Jared’s arms, walking over to the balcony doors. Following, Jared hugged him from behind, resting his chin on Jensen’s shoulder as they looked out at the beach. Jensen sighed, his body slumping in and under Jared’s embrace. “I don’t know what to say,” Jensen said softly. “Except… thank you.” He rested his head against Jared’s, bringing his hands up to place them on Jared’s arms wrapped around his torso. “I never would’ve even imagined letting myself have something like this, but as surreal as it feels…  _ thank you _ , Jay.”

Turning in his arms, Jensen raised his hands to cup Jared’s face. His gaze was searching as he looked into Jared’s eyes – what he was looking for, Jared had no idea, but with Jared only meeting Jensen’s gaze, steadfast, their stare hardly lasted more than a few seconds before Jensen was pulling him down for a kiss, standing on the tips of his toes to meet Jared halfway.

Breathing leaving him out in one go, Jared slumped against Jensen while still bracing his boyfriend in his arms. He pulled Jensen in closer until they were flush against each other. The full frontal contact stoked back the flames he’d been feeling from hours ago, but while that had been thoroughly ravenous to the point of vicious, the passion he felt now, ever raging in Jensen’s presence, was softer. Sensual.

They could put the plans Jared made for the evening on hold. They were going to be here for almost a week anyhow. For now, hoisting Jensen’s legs around his waist, Jared walked them over to the king-sized bed. It wasn’t Jensen’s California king, but it would work well as a starting point for them to christen their suite while they were here.

oOo

“C’mon. What’s in the booox?” Jensen sang out. Jared fondly rolled his eyes, but kept walking.

“Patience, young padawan. Find out soon, you will,” he intoned. Jensen’s glee was only momentary before he was back to pouting at Jared playfully. Thankfully, he didn’t nag too much, choosing to appreciate their surroundings instead as Jared walked them to the beach. Their joint hands swung back and forth between them, Jared other hand holding onto a simple card box box he kept balanced by tucking it under his arm. By the time they’d approached the oceanfront, Jensen was positively beaming, tilting his head back to soak up the sunshine.

Letting go of Jensen’s hand, Jared bent down. Immediately recapturing Jensen’s attention, his interest was visibly piqued as Jared opened the box and began taking out a few buckets of various sizes. Placing them on the sand, Jared leaned back, smiling up at Jensen with his eyes scrunched even through his shades. The sun was framing Jensen’s head from behind, casting a halo-like effect, implementing the idea that Jensen was truly the angel to his devil in Jared’s head. “So. Sandcastles, or catching jellyfish – which one first?”

Jensen’s jaw fell slack as comprehension dawned. His eyes began to water, but he slowly smiled again as he fell to his knees on the sand beside Jared. Swaying forwards, Jensen kissed him for several long seconds before leaning back. “Jellyfish, you dummy, or did you forget?” His voice was a little choked up, but Jared knew Jensen meant for it to come out more jokingly than it did.

Grabbing the largest bucket, Jared stood, offering a hand to Jensen. “Then why’re you still sitting in the sand, lazypants?” He retorted, as teasingly as Jensen had aimed for.

Eyes soft, Jensen surreptitiously sniffed as he grabbed onto Jared’s hand. Pulling him up, Jared pretended not to notice, and let his boyfriend tug him by their entwined hands to the water.

oOo

Keeping his eyes on Jensen from several yards away, Jared hit dial. He watched Jensen pile together several upturned buckets of sand before the person on the other end picked up.

“‘lo?”

Jared smiled thinly, shoving his free hand into the pocket of his plain, light blue beach shorts. “Chad,” he greeted simply.

There was some clattering on the end followed by a series of a dog shooting – Harley, Jared guessed. “Jay-man!” Chad crowed. “How’s Florida? Tell me – are the beaches full of hot women in bikinis? You better send me some pictures, Jay-man! And at least one number per day!”

Jared shook his head. He didn’t express it often, especially because he knew it would only boost Chad’s ego, but he’d always be secretly amused by his best friend’s antics. “I’m not flirting with women for you. I am here with Jensen, Chad.”

Chad groaned, and Jared could just see his friend dramatically closing his eyes and posing for effect even if he wasn’t there directly. “Am I being cockblocked by your gay sex? Dude, you know chicks dig the whole homoeroticness.”

“I’m pansexual, not gay.”

“Not when you’re monogamously boning a dude – that’s hella gay and gay only.”

Jared huffed. “Whatever. Not why I called–”

“Oh, I know, I know. Child’s, Jay-man, haven’t killed your precious dogs yet.”

“–Did you look up what I asked you to?”

There was silence, but Jared wasn’t worried. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Chad returned, voice low and serious. “Yeah. Fucked up shit. Believe it or not, dear old uncle died a few years back because of lung cancer. Ye faithful wife requested things be hush-hush – only to bite it herself not too long afterwards. Heart attack, but you know how the gossip works. People’re saying it’s because she couldn’t live without her beloved and all that crotchety shit.”

Jared quietly harrumphed. “Lucky them.”

Chad chortled from the other end, but he didn’t sound very amused. “I daren’t ask why or what. Know you too well for that. Just don’t go digging up graves ‘cause you’re pissed.”

“Please.” Jared scoffed. “I’ve got more class than that.”

Chad chuckled, then fell silent again. Not too far away to be out of sight but far enough that Jared didn’t have to worry about being heard, Jensen sat upright, craning his neck as he looked for Jared on the other end of the beach. “Listen; that hound you said would drop by?” Chad said. “Well, it did. Came with some nice piece of eye candy, but I didn’t miss them claws.” Turning his head the other way, Jensen finally spotted Jared. Even from the distance, Jared could see Jensen’s face brightening when he found him. An arm extending into the air, Jensen becomes him over. Jared held up a finger, pointing apologetically at his phone.

“What happened?”

“Exactly how you said the hounds would react to my meat. Got them out no problem, as per your tips.”

“Mm.” Jared slowly ambled back to Jensen. “Well, stay safe. You know how hounds are going to be when it comes to your steaks. Dog with a bone and all that.”

Chad snorted. “Sure, right back atcha. You’re the one who had to deal with dogs on the reg.”

“I did buy them,” Jared said lightly. “I like my dogs. I knew what I was signing up for when I ‘brought’ this on myself, as you’d say.” He was now a few feet away from Jensen, his boyfriend oblivious as he carefully balanced another level of upturned sand buckets atop the rows under it. 

Chad hummed in agreement. “Yeah, and don’t you know it. Anyway, I’m gonna go before Harley chews on my shoes. Your goddamn mutts, Jay. I swear if I didn’t love you…”

“Shut up. Harley and Sadie grew on you the first day I brought them over,” Jared said. He slumped down beside Jensen, uncaring of the wet sand immediately sticking to the seat of his pants. Jensen startled, but then smiled sweetly when he saw Jared, leaning against him as he kept building his sandcastle. “And Harley’s probably doing you a favor anyway. God knows even they can tell your sense of style leaves much to be desired.”

“Hey, don’t diss it ‘till you’ve tried it! You’re only jealous I’m such a pussy magnet.”

Rolling his eyes, Jared quickly interjected before Chad could go on any longer with his lame excuses defending his, frankly, atrocious wardrobe. “Whatever. I’m getting back to Jensen. Talk later.”

“Don’t forget those hot chicks’ numbers!” Chad called out as Jared pulled his phone away from his ear to cut the call. He sighed, put-upon, but Jensen was just watching him with an amused smile.

“Friend?” He asked.

“If you could call it that,” Jared joked. “But, yeah. Called to complain about the dogs.” Jared grinned at Jensen’s uncertain expression. “Don’t worry, he’s fine. The dogs love him. They won’t hurt him. Much.”

Jensen shook his head at Jared, flicking sand at him. “Idiots.”

Jared narrowed his eyes at Jensen. His boyfriend had a split second for his grin to slip off and morph into terror before Jared pounced.

Laughing, they wrestled in the sand, unwittingly kicking Jensen’s castle over at one point. Neither of them cared to stop, tumbling around until Jared finally let Jensen roll him onto his back, immediately climbing to sit astride Jared’s lap.

Panting, they just stared at each other for a while. And then they were simultaneously coming together, Jensen leaning down and Jared craning his neck up to collide their lips into a heated kiss. Hands intertwining, Jared elf Jensen pin his hands to the sand above his head. It grew sloppy with Jensen taking control and Jared just happily enjoying the ride. While they were in public, this section of the beach wasn’t too crowded in comparison, so they had this little bubble of space to themselves. Jared definitely wasn’t stopping Jensen from doing whatever he wanted, short of stripping them completely bare and riding him here on the sand. More than the probability of getting arrested for indecent exposure, Jared just didn’t want to get any sand between his ass cheeks. He’d rather buy proper exfoliating cream for that.

Caught up with his subconscious musings but also the more pressing situation growing where Jensen’s ass was conveniently grinding against his groin, he at first didn’t pay any heed to Jensen letting go of his hands and shifting. Still too enraptured with the taste and feel of Jensen’s tongue against his, he made to settle his hands on Jensen’s waist.

Only, spluttering, he pulled back, blinking as Jensen upturned a large bucket of wet sand right over his chest. “What the–”

With almost maniacal glee lighting up his face, Jensen moved faster than Jared had ever seen him move, climbing off of Jared’s lap as he rapidly spilled another bucket of sand, this time, right where he’d been sitting on Jared only seconds before. A quick glance to the side revealed all the rest of the buckets Jared had brought, bar two, filled with sand and waiting. Jensen already had another bucket in his eager hands.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t see this coming!” Jensen exclaimed giddily. The third bucket went over Jared’s chest, and while it wasn’t heavy, it was still an uncomfortable weight as it slipped through his simple white button up. The top few buttons he’d left open, revealing a hint of his chest, had been more to rile Jensen up at the time, but now proved to be his bane as the sand quickly clung to his skin and slipped further into his shirt. 

He could have easily rolled over… but instead, he just let his lips be pulled into a smile as he folded his hands under his head. “Bring it on, sweetheart,” he lazily drawled.

Jensen snickered as he poured sand all over Jared’s legs, Jared helpfully remaining unmoving. The entire time Jensen proceeded to gradually bury him under sand, he stared fondly as a content, if still smug, expression settled on Jensen’s face. And once his entire body was covered by a layer of sand up to his neck, Jared could even admit that it was rather relaxing. Although, so much for trying to avoid getting sand in places he knew would irritate him the moment he was freed and walking.

Yet, Jensen’s face so open and joyful, his boyfriend was even  _ humming _ under his breath, and Jared swore he’d make Jensen actually sing for him one day soon, Jared knew he wasn’t going to complain aloud about the sand one bit.

The sun was starting to set when finally, from under a heap of sand that had Jared firmly and securely ensconced, Jensen settled back on his heels, smug grin returning in full force. “I could leave you here like this,” he mused, amusement making his eyes shine with delight.

Turning his head, Jared merely raised his eyebrows in response. “Are you done?”

Putting a fist to his chin, Jensen pretended to ponder the question. “Hm… yeah, I guess I am.”

No sooner were the words out of his mouth, and Jared was leaping. His muscles had been perpetually twitching and flexing minutely, testing the give, so it was with full confidence that Jared jumped free and tackled a yelping Jensen. Reduced into uncontained laughter, it didn’t take Jensen long to helplessly cry for mercy through gasping breaths between bouts of laughter. In retaliation, Jared shoved one last handful of sand under Jensen’s waistband before flopping off to the side, grinning at Jensen’s squirm and sounds of discomfort as he attempted in vain to dislodge the stand without outright sticking a hand into his shorts. Jared supposed anyone else would’ve felt sorry seeing Jensen pretty much dance like a wiggling worm, especially because Jared knew for a fact that he wasn’t the only one who’d gone commando, but Jared wasn’t anyone else, was he?

Merely a minute later, Jensen gave up, giving a pitiful whimper as he stopped moving. Letting his head fall to the side, he shot Jared a wounded look, which only elicited a chuckle.

“C’mon,” standing, Jared jumped in place a little as gravity brought free what must’ve been half a pound of loose sand. “Let’s get you back to the resort and into a nice, cleansing shower.” Jensen stuck his tongue out, but let Jared pull him up. Only, he didn’t let go once vertical. If anything, he stepped closer to Jared, shuddering as sand dropped from under his shorts. Jared frowned, placing a hand on Jensen’s hip, when he felt it. He still cast a glance downwards to confirm what he felt anyway as a sly grin overtook his features. “Soon,” he promised in a husky whisper. Mercifully, he didn’t move when he noticed Jensen was clearly trying to remain still as well, his hard cock poking at Jared’s leg through their shorts. “Let’s get to the resort first, okay?” Jensen nodded, eyes scrunched up and closed, his head only centimeters away from resting against Jared’s jaw.

He gave Jensen another few seconds before he risked slowly pulling back. Deeming it safe despite Jensen still remaining frozen, Jared hastily shoved the buckets back in the box he’d brought them in. Not bothering to put them in properly, the box’s flaps wouldn’t close all the way, but he tucked it under his arm all the same. Making sure he wasn’t catching Jensen off guard, he placed a gentle hand at the base of Jensen’s spine, making Jensen open his eyes. “C’mon,” he crooned softly. “Let’s go.”

Stiffly, Jensen began walking, Jared’s hand curling possessively around Jensen’s hip as they passed a line of people. When his eyes fell on something not too far away, Jared smirked. “Hey, Jens.” Attention garnered, he gestured with his chin to the ice cream stand not ten feet away. “Shouldn’t we be getting some ice cream?”

The swat he got to his guts for that was entirely expected and deserved, and though it smarted, it didn’t stop Jared from laughing aloud, his head tossed back as his booming chuckle got more than a few curious looks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, lmk if there any glaring typos and I’ll fix them soon as I can!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ‘Twas a sad lack of comments the previous chapter... and still I post a slightly longer one tonight in hopes for a better outcome this time...  
> EDIT PLEASE READ! As of June 27, this fic is going through some major reconstruction! Things are iffy rn, but basically i've got someone pointing out some major inconsistencies and the like. So until they're done going through the whole 94k words i've typed so far, this fic will be labeled as under construction while i fix some plot holes and the like. As such, I may be reposting some chapters, and so far there aren't too many major changes, but I'd recommend keeping eye on the chapter notes in case there's anything big altered

The next few days were filled with exciting adventures Jared had all planned to a T. Kiteboarding, stand-up paddle boarding, kayaking – each day was dedicated to its own event, and Jensen was thrilled as he eagerly awaited the nights to pass so Jared could take him for whatever was next.

The nights weren’t uneventful either. Rising with the sun and spending time outside until well into the afternoon had Jared delightfully remarking on Jensen’s growing tan in passing. They took the evenings off to wind down. Jensen had initially found it distasteful to work considering the rather exotic location, but it was the same location that, once he started writing, he was soon sucked into his familiar world of crime with the beach a peaceful backdrop and the audible ocean’s waves lapping at the shores a soothing background noise.

Jared hadn’t been offended at Jensen’s near obliviousness to the outside world once he got into the zone. If anything, he only claimed amusement when Jensen fretted about ignoring him. Besides, Jared easily pointed out how their residential suite came with not one, but two TVs, and an endless supply of channels to keep Jared occupied if he so wished. 

When Jensen saw his boyfriend out on the balcony and studiously working through Jensen’s books instead, Jensen bit his lip and retreated, keeping quiet. He’d tell Jared later, but the truth was, the sight unexplainably invigorated Jensen to write more.

It was actually during those relatively relaxing moments that Jensen decided on a whim to make a phone call one day. As usual, Jared sat outside on the balcony reading, while Jensen was comfortably seated in his armchair by the open window, the perfect place, he’d decided, to work, and not least because of the sounds of the ocean and easy visibility of the balcony from where he was seated.

While the phone line rang, Jensen sat in front of his laptop, fidgeting. She should be free to pick up, but if not, he’d go back to writing…

“Jensen?” His sister’s excited voice greeted him, cutting through his thoughts. Right away, Jensen was automatically saving his current document and turning his laptop off. Detective Greg could wait; as much of a crucial fixation as he was in Jensen’s life, his sister forever trumped his dear characters.

“Hey, Mack!” He returned with equivalent enthusiasm. “How’re those skimpy models treating you? Have they finally bowed down to your superior skill and talent?”

“Ugh, same old, same old,” his sister was quick to dismiss. “We’ll talk about me and those airheads later. First, you spill. Where’d the boyfriend take you?” Mackenzie inquired eagerly.

Grinning, Jensen twisted around to sit sideways in his armchair. “I don’t know if you’re gonna believe me,” he said playfully.

“Try me!” Mackenzie challenged impatiently.

Laughing aloud, Jensen curled his legs under him. “Key Biscayne, Florida,” he announced succinctly but grandly. “Mack, I think he might actually be insane,” he said in a lower voice, even as he laughed but studiously went on over her squealing. “He booked us a residential suite at a resort. I mean – the beach is already like a damned painting, but I’ve been feeling like a friggin’ diplomat he’s trying to woo or something.”

Mackenzie stopped squealing, much to Jensen’s relief. He loved his sister to bits, but he could do without her glass shattering decibel whenever he had her voice right against his ear. “That’s good,” Mackenzie did, sounding much more serious. “Means he’s treating you right, then.”

Jensen rolled his eyes. “Mack…”

“No, for real!” Mackenzie exclaimed. “You’re my older brother and have full rights to give whoever – and whenever – I date the ‘Talk.’ Shut up,” Jensen smirked; they both knew he was going to lord her words over her later. “That doesn’t mean I’m not gonna do the same just because I’m your little sister.” Her voice grew quiet. “You’re all I have, Jensen. And after everything we’ve been through, everything you’ve done for me… I just want you to be happy, Jen-Jen.”

Jensen sniffed. Swallowing, his eyes lowered. He couldn’t bring himself to reply right away. From the other end of the line, he could hear that Mackenzie wasn’t exactly dry-eyed either. “Hey,” he finally choked out. “You know I love you, you little brat. Right?”

Mackenzie’s laughter was thick. “Shut up, dumbo.”

“Hey, who’s more likely to be the bimbo between us?”

“Oh, fuck off. I might work with them, but it ain’t contagious, you hermit.”

“Language!”

And just like that, they were laughing again, more joyously this time as the earlier melancholy and its resulting tears ebbed away.

“But – seriously. When do I get to meet this boyfriend of yours, Jensen?”

Stretching out his legs, Jensen stood. “I don’t know,” he said with a twinge of remorse. “Honestly, I hadn’t even been expecting this trip. Only reason Jared even booked it was because he had a few days off…” he walked through the suite, laptop predictably forgotten. “Maybe I’ll talk to him about it the next time he’s got another few days off?” Jensen said as he approached the balcony doors.

“You better,” Mackenzie said. There was a hint of a threat in her tone, but it was gone as she kept talking before Jensen could interrupt her. “It’s been ages since we last met, and it’s still your turn to visit, Jen-Jen. I miss you.”

“I know,” Jensen said placatingly, even as his own heart mourned the months he’d gone by without getting to see Mack. He still couldn’t resist jibing at her, though, as he slid through the open balcony doors. “You could always just visit me yourself,” he pointed out. “Don’t pretend you didn’t like my digs.” Jared looked up as Jensen joined him, smiling even as his eyes creased in confusion when he looked to the phone Jensen held against his ear.

“Of course I like it, you doofus. I helped pick it!” Mackenzie said. “And as much as I’d like to drop by and intrude on your hermit tendencies, it’s your turn for a reason. There’s no way I can even think about another vacation, no matter how far into the future, when we’ve got the Christmas and New Year’s styles to create. I swear, Madame Rosé is driving us like godforsaken cattle. If I have to hear one more time about unique designs and ‘making a statement unlike anyone has ever seen before!’ I’m gonna vandalize her ‘perfect’ wardrobe and give it some tasteful holes to update her on current trends pretty much everywhere with anyone else.” 

Snickering, Jensen mouthed, “ _ Mackenzie”  _ at Jared, who nodded in understanding, and then easily returned to his book. “Don’t do anything to threaten your job,” Jensen warned lightly. “If you’re gonna go around cutting up snobbish women’s outfits, make sure you have a good alibi.”

Without looking up from his book, Jared snorted. Narrowing his eyes at Jared’s otherwise aloofness, Jensen abruptly decided to rock things up a bit. “You know what?” He said to Mackenzie, keeping his eyes on his blissfully oblivious boyfriend. “You’re right.”

“Hold up, say that again?”

“In fact,” blatantly ignoring Mackenzie’s prodding for him to return to inflating his little sister’s ego, a slow smile crept at the edges of his lips as he watched on as his boyfriend flipped a page. “Because you seem so intent on dragging an actual date out of me, why don’t you just discuss availabilities with Jared yourself?” Proving that he definitely was listening into the conversation, Jared’s head shot up, eyes widening. Over Mackenzie’s squawked protests, he handed his phone to Jared with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Narrowing his own eyes at Jensen, Jared calmly put his book on the table between them before taking the phone, his face turning impassive. “Hello?”

Elbow on the table, Jensen rested his chin on his palms, smiling serenely at his boyfriend while Mackenzie undoubtedly nattered away in his ear.

“Yes… I – yes, for a few months now… uh, my coworker introduced us?” Jared shot Jensen an unimpressed look as Mackenzie continued to shoot rapid-fire questions at him. Jensen wasn’t too worried; he knew Mackenzie would save the hardcore interrogation for when they’d meet face-to-face. She wouldn’t be above threatening Jared though, even if through a phone, Jensen mused. The thought was amusing, and endearing too, not that Jensen would ever admit to it aloud.

“Oh, then? I mean, I couldn’t give you a definite answer off the top of my head without my calendar in front of me, but – yeah… I understand… of course. I’ll try to keep my schedule clear if I have to.” A beat passed as Mackenzie responded, and then Jensen was taken aback as Jared chuckled. “Not really, but if I explain the situation to my coworker… yep, she’s the one – she’d be more than willing to accommodate – yeah. She can definitely work with that.”

Straightening, Jensen narrowed his eyes at Jared, this time in suspicion, as their conversation drew to an end. Finally, Jared cut the call with a parting goodbye, holding out Jensen’s phone to him.

But he didn’t take it back, because Jared was smiling, and that didn’t look or sound like how Jensen expected the conversation between his boyfriend and sister to go. “What were you talking about?” He asked instead, crossing his arms. Jared placed the phone on the table, unperturbed.

“I know it’s probably too early to say anything, but…” Jared smiled mischievously. “I like your sister. I think we might actually get along quite well, too!”

Jensen was anything but reassured by that.

oOo

Further prodding wouldn’t make Jared reveal anything about what he’d discussed with Jensen’s sister, no matter whatever underhanded tactics Jensen tried resorting to. Even before he could actually give up for the day – not that he was planning on giving up that easily – the sun had set, and with the moon high in the starlit sky, Jared waved Jensen and his rather relentless questioning away in favor of preparing for their nightly endeavors, which, so far, without fail, Jensen would find himself inextricably accompanying Jared to whichever club appeared to Jared for the night. If Jensen had any qualms about getting too drunk, even on any other given night as he had been initially, Jared was soon to dissipate it, carefully supplying Jensen with enough alcohol to make him lose his inhibitions, but miraculously not enough to render Jensen incapable of getting out of bed the next day because of a crippling hangover.

He’d never thought a general surgeon in particular would know enough about alcohol content, but whatever medical school Jared went to must’ve had its perks. Either that, or Jared was an experienced drinker, which… somehow, Jensen couldn’t see happening; his boyfriend definitely didn’t seem to be the type of person that would indulge in a lot of alcohol on a frequent basis. Yet it also had an unfortunate aspect, in that it also meant he couldn’t even try to make a drunken Jared spill his secrets. 

No matter how he became so well-versed with his drinks, however, because Jensen was introduced to a whole world of fruity cocktails he’d never so much as order for himself. His trust in Jared for his drinks was still well-placed, because they all tasted  _ exquisite _ . Embarrassingly, Jensen could be far more disappointed than necessary, really, when Jared had to switch him to water or juice. He might’ve put up a bigger fuss, Sober Jensen was slightly mortified to realize, if they hadn’t inevitably been on the dance floor by then anyway. At least Jensen –  _ sober _ Jensen – didn’t have to worry about drunken, uncoordinated limbs flailing about, because they weren’t dancing as much as they were lewdly grinding. Or, rather, Jensen would grind, tantalizingly teasing, back into Jared while his infuriatingly less drunk boyfriend kept a deathly possessive grip on his hips. The bruises Jensen was guaranteed to find there the following morning were only a few out of many.

And, oh. The sex. Jesus Christ on a pogo stick eating corn, but the sex was  _ fantastic _ . Jensen could honestly say, and without any regrets, that he’d never been fucked so frequently on a regular basis like this before. He didn’t get bored – there was no way the act could be tiring, the very thought laughable because Jared was a frickin’ god in the bedroom. If someone took a UV light to any random spot in their suite, Jensen would have to jump into the ocean and swim back to his home in New York out of mortification of the undeniable evidence that Jared really did stake his claim on Jensen everywhere… both on his body and in their suite.

So, no. That wasn’t a problem, and neither was soreness, except for the delicious ways Jensen ached, and it definitely wasn’t a result of all the strenuous, outdoor activities they partook in (Not. Of the sexual variety). And no matter how much or how fervently Jensen would claim that it was, Jared was easily able to see through his lie, courtesy of his ever traitorous cheeks unable to keep from giving him away when he was either lying, or recounting the lewd, filthy acts they’d committed only the night before. Combining the two meant he was hopeless in trying to convince Jared that the previous day’s hike was the cause of his strained thighs.

Reality was, the deep oil massages Jared booked for them helped with the soreness from getting out of control. Suffice to say, Jensen was pretty much in heaven the near week they spent in Key Biscayne, and he knew he would be saddened when they had to depart back to New York. Unfortunately for him, while Jensen could potentially work from anywhere, they were undoubtedly patients waiting for Jared back home. And ultimately, what place was going to be any fun without Jared there, really?

oOo

Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down –

Slamming the report onto the desk, Alona shifted in her chair to face Jeff. “How is your hand not tired?” She exclaimed incredulously. Jeff felt a twinge of guilt when he spotted the subtle signs of weariness that, while well hidden, was still evident in Alona’s eyes.

Jeff quietly rolled the yo-yo back up one last time before setting it on the desk. He didn’t reply as he kicked his chair away from the table, rising and heading almost automatically to the pin-up board. It was gradually filling, but not fast enough, and with nothing providing a strong enough clue either. No matter how he looked at it, from varying angles, time of day, or state of mind, nothing seemed to stand out to him to lead to a breakthrough with the case.

Simply put, this case might actually be the one to successfully drive Jeff certifiably insane. He’d be damned if he didn’t solve it, though, even if it was the last thing he did.

Sighing, Jeff massaged his forehead with a thumb and pointer finger. “You should go home, Alona. It’s getting late.”

From behind him, Alona snorted. “And where are you at, Tokyo? It’s way past a reasonable hour for both of us to be still at this. If I gotta go home, so do you.”

Exhaling, Jeff debated arguing. Truth of the matter, however, was that he was tired. Staring at the meager evidence they’d managed to accumulate wasn’t going to get him anywhere anytime soon. The least he could do was come back and try again after he’d gotten a few hours of sleep and some food that wasn’t takeout. And a shower in the comforts of his home for once, rather than the Bureau’s communal showers. Jeff slumped in place, trying hard yet still unable to ignore the feeling that he’d somehow failed.

“Yeah, okay.” Turning around, he collected his wrinkled suit jacket and phone, mustering a smile at Alona’s look of surprise. “Let’s get outta here before I start shooting at the damn walls.”

“We can’t have that now, can we?” Alona said dryly, but she looked grateful anyway as she gathered her own stuff as Jeff made a feeble attempt to straighten things up. He gave up pretty quickly, and walked ahead to hold the door open for Alona to pass through before he locked it behind him, Alona patiently waiting whilst shrugging on her jacket.

“How’s Hilarie?” Alona asked as they headed to the elevators. Being the last two to leave – Alona hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d commented on the late hour – the duo worked as a team to hit the lights and lock up behind them as they left.

“Ah, definitely better than the two of us combined.” Alona rolled her eyes and shoved at his arm, but didn’t verbally deny the comment. Hitting the button for the elevator, Alona shoved her hands into her pockets while Jeff absently patted himself down, running through his mental checklist to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. “She’s good.” Jeff continued more seriously, albeit with a shrug. “Understanding about this case – as much as she’s permitted to know, don’t get your panties in a twist,” he said when Alona opened her mouth, most likely to rebuke him. She huffed but refrained from interrupting him after his added comment as they stepped into the elevator. “Bless her soul. I don’t know what I did to deserve her.” He leaned against the back wall of the elevator, letting his head slump back to rest on it. Adjacent to him, Alona had a small smile on her face.

“Sounds like you should pop the question and put a damn ring on her finger before she comes to her senses.”

Jeff chuckled lowly. “No pressure, huh?” He shook his head. Alona smiled sweetly, still managing to make it look sardonic nonetheless.

oOo

The lights were still on when Jeff got home. Letting himself fully in before shrugging off his coat and placing it on the rack, absently shutting the door behind him, he called out into his apartment when he was met with silence. “Hilarie?”

“In here!” Her voice was distracted. Following it revealed why right away. Looking all cozy, bundled up in a throne in front of the fireplace, Hilarie had a book in one hand, and –

“Is that hot chocolate?”

Looking up from her book, Hilarie smiled knowingly. “I’ve got some more left for you in the kitchen.”

Jeff groaned. “You’re the best,” he said over his shoulder, already heading to the kitchen.

“Don’t you know it!”

While he reheated the hot chocolate, he took off his suit jacket, carelessly leaving it draped over the back of a nearby chair. Unbuttoning the cuffs of his shirt and rolling up the sleeves, he let out an exaggeratedly relieved sigh when he loosened his tie. The microwave dinged before he could remove it completely, so he left it barely hanging around his neck as he retrieved his mouth watering cup of hot chocolate. Adding a healthy heap of marshmallows to it from the bag left on the counter, he then made his way back to Hilarie to greet her far more appropriately.

“Mm,” pressing a kiss to the side of her head, he stayed hunched over the armchair, losing himself to the scent of her vanilla shampoo. “Hey, honey.”

Rolling her head back, she smiled at him, upside down. “Hey, hun. How was work?”

The groan he let out again was more annoyed, though he couldn’t blame her for bringing it up. It was one of their traditions, this little slice of domesticity in his life that never failed to remind Jeff of the tab of wedding rings he had opened on a private browser in his phone. “Dreary,” he responded. He huffed as he collapsed on the armchair adjacent to Hilarie’s. “We’ve pretty much got no new leads, and Jim’s driving my ass harder than ever ‘cause he wanted something before the New Year.”

Hilarie hummed sympathetically, eyes soft with mild concern as she watched Jeff practically melt against the armchair. He sighed aloud, taking a blissful sip of his ambrosia before looking at Hilarie. “Let’s not talk about me though. What about you, anything interesting happen at the shelter today?”

Hilarie let out a small chuckle, the sound a delight to his weary senses. “Nah, not really. I guess we’ve all got some sort of dry spell going around, huh? Oh!” She sat upright in her armchair, brandishing the book in her hands in Jeff’s face before he could voice out a joke about breaking at least one sort of dry spell. “Khaira got her hand on the latest J. Ross book and let me borrow it! Did you know he’s been doing book signing events lately?” She claimed excitedly.

Leaning his head back, he blinked so he could properly read the book’s title being brandished only centimeters away from his face. “Is that so?”  _ Blue Sky River? _ What kind of title was that?

“Mhm. It’s sort of a big thing. No one knew how he even looked, there was barely any information available about him, much less a picture. So when the whole thing was announced, this recent book of his was sold out crazy fast,” she gushed. “And the reviews came pouring in even faster, praising it to the high heavens. Although,” she snorted. “I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one of them wasn’t inflated because of his looks.”

Jeff raised an eyebrow at her. “His looks?”

She smirked at his tone. “Yep. Someone’s been posting photos from the events,” she sighed dreamily, but Jeff didn’t miss the coy look she shot him from the corner of her eyes. “He’s so handsome, and not even that old! A lot of people thought he’d be like Stephen King, but he looks to be in his late twenties, maybe early thirties. Although, that would explain why he’s only got nine books out so far…” she mused. Her eyes gained a faraway look in them, and Jeff cracked.

“Alright, gimme that,” leaning forward, he snatched the book from her unsuspecting hands, hissing when the abrupt motion jostled his cup and splashed hot liquid over the edges and onto his fingers.

“Hey!” Hilarie crossed her arms, pouting at him. “You better clean that up at least if it stains the armchair,” she said instead.

“Yeah, sure.” He flicked through the book, not really taking anything in. “What’s this J. Ross even writing about? A ‘poignant love story that occurs at a river?’” He asked teasingly.

“No, you jerk. The title is a play based on some clues scattered throughout the book.” She looked at him considering my. “I’m not actually sure you’d like it,” she said genuinely.

That made Jeff pause, and he looked up over the book questioningly. “Why not?”

Hilarie bit her lip. “J. Ross is a crime author,” she said hesitantly. “His stories usually revolve around murder. This one,” she gestured to the book in his hands with a tilt of her chin. “Is about the detective trying to solve a serial killer case.”

She was looking at him with so much worry, it changed to betrayal when he let out a bark of laughter. “Of course,” he said flatly. “No wonder it sold out so fast.”

Huffing at him, she grabbed her book back, thumbing through the pages to find where she’d left off, her touch gentle as if the book was something priceless. “For your information,” she said haughtily. “This came out days before the Dabbs’ murder.”

Shaking his head, Jeff chugged down his hot chocolate, although it was now more lukewarm than hot. He wasn’t surprised that she knew he was investigating the Dabbs’ case. One of the precious few things Beaver let the press know was who’d be on the case, after all, so of course Hilarie would keep herself as updated as she could as to what Jeff was doing, as a result.

“Yeah? Well, does the detective catch whoever’s doing the killings? ‘Cause if this J. Ross is any good, I might have to try stealing some of his sleuthing skills.”

Hilarie rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. You’re probably just as good as Detective Greg.”

“Probably?” Jeff repeated, affronted.

Smiling sweetly, Hilarie went on as if she hadn’t been interrupted. “And you should read his books anyway if the topic doesn’t get to you. You might be more impressed than you think.”

“Highly doubt that,” Jeff grumbled into his almost empty mug.

She continued to blithely ignore him as she went back to flipping the pages before pausing on one. “Anyway, I haven’t finished reading yet to know what happens in the end. I was actually in the middle of Greg analyzing a crime scene before you so rudely interrupted.”

“Should I be worried that you’re apparently on a first-name basis with a fictional character now?” Without looking up, she reached over and cliched his knee, unerringly getting him right on the tendon and making him flinch. “Jesus Christ, every time – how do you  _ do _ that?”

Hilarie hummed. “A veterinarian never reveals her secrets,” she said while he rubbed at his knee. “Now, hush. I’m trying to figure out the logistics and possibilities of being able to make a chess board out of human bones and organs.”

Jeff froze. “What did you say?”

“I know. Seems a little bit of a stretch, doesn’t – Jeffrey!” She gasped when he yanked the book from her hands again, but he paid no attention to her reprimands on manners – nothing he hadn’t heard before – as he scanned the page Hilarie had stopped on. Rapidly reading through the passage, a horrified chill trickled down his spine.

“Jesus H. Christ,” he mumbled faintly. Irritation morphing to concern, Hilarie called out to him, but he was already ditching the mug to eat to his phone, book still in hand. Hitting the first name on his contacts list, he held a finger to Hilarie, silently gesturing for her to wait as he turned around and took a few steps away in a half aborted attempt at some semblance of privacy.

When the person picked up, she was quick to express her displeasure at being disturbed at an ungodly hour in a disgruntled and sleepy tone, indicating that she may have been well on her way to la la land when Jeff called. “–I swear, Jeff, if this isn’t a but-dial, somebody better be dying–”

“Alona,” Jeff cut in harshly. “Get your ass up and moving. I’ve got a lead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (If you haven’t gotten the hint, I’m desperately thirsty for some comments) seriously, do I need to kill another character off to regain your interests? Cuz if that’s the case...
> 
> 06/27 update: Thank you for your beautiful comments! I swear, there will be more soon, ideally around wednesday, but personally, I'm gonna try finishing up the constructive work before I return to posting any new chapters. Just keep an eye on when I take down the note from the fic's summary -- once it is no longer there, you can assume i'll be back to normal updates :)
> 
> Thank you all for your wonderful patience my loves!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgot to post last night oops  
> On the bright side, done w the reconstruction of the first seventeen chapter! Whoop! We should now be back on track :D

“And you’re absolutely sure this… J. Ross… might know something?” Beaver asked dubiously.

“Know something – he could be related to the murders, Jim!” Jeff exclaimed. “Look for yourself. Intestines on the wall? Detonated head? None of this information was released to the press!”

“We could have some sort of copycat killer on our hands,” Alona spoke up from where she was leaning against the wall. She, like Beaver, looked doubtful of what Jeff was saying, which he was none too pleased to note. “I mean, didn’t this book come out before the date of Andrew’s murder? Someone could’ve easily read it and then copied the descriptions.”

“Okay, fine,” he slammed his hands down on Beaver’s desk, making the contents atop it bounce. “Then we can get a list of everyone who’s bought the book and we can narrow out people and be left with more suspects than the single,” he held up his index finger for emphasis, “one we have now.”

Both Alona and Beaver were looking at him like he’d lost his marbles, which, he guessed, his general unkempt look probably wasn’t helping matters, especially considering what Beaver said next. “Jeff, how much sleep – or caffeine – are you running on right now?” Beaver asked incredulously. Jeff could’ve scoffed – as if that mattered. Sure, he might not have slept for more than a handful of hours in the past few days, and he might’ve had more than triple the amount of maximum caffeine Hilarie would say his body could take, but none of that mattered. Before he could let Beaver know that, however, he went on. “You’re telling me, what, this book sold out faster than the stores can keep their shelves stocked – and you wanna investigate probably a million people?”

“Look, Jim. We can eliminate anyone who doesn’t fit the bill – our murderer’s someone strong and resourceful, right?” Beaver didn’t look convinced and didn’t even bother nodding, so taking a deep breath, Jeff went on in a more neutral tone. “Jim. This is the only thing we’ve got right now. If you don’t give me this at least, we’re as good as lame ducks.”

Several long seconds passed. No one said anything, and in the silence that had descended upon Beaver’s office, the ticking of the wall clock seemed louder than the background sounds of the rest of the department’s bustling outside.

Eventually, Beaver sighed in defeat, rubbing a hand over his face. “Fine. You’ll probably regret this, but fine. Just don’t expect me to console you like a crying baby when this doesn’t work out.”

“If,” Jeff corrected, beaming. He stood up and made for the door, Alona automatically straightening and making to follow, but she still looked no less uncertain even as Beaver waved them out. “And it will. I promise you, Jim. We’ll find this killer soon.”

As they exited Beaver’s office, they could faintly hear him muttering his response before they shut the door. “God help your souls, you better pray you do.”

Absently walking over to Alona’s desk, his mind was already racing through his thoughts, so it was Alona who broke the silence first. “So… where do you wanna start, I guess?”

Turning to face her, Jeff smiled darkly. “First, I want all the information you can get on who this J. Ross is.”

“Seriously?” Alona asked, exasperated, but Jeff just shook his head.

“Just… work with me here, alright? I’ve got a hunch, and I bet you my property it’s a damn good one.”

Alona did not look convinced at all, but she was sitting down anyway, booting up her computer. “You better be ready with your signed deeds then,” she muttered.

Jeff hummed, mind already retreating from the conversation. “We’ll see about that, Tal,” he said absently. “We’ll see.”

oOo

The last place Jensen would’ve expected himself to be on New Year’s Eve, two days after arriving back home from Florida, was the Gramercy Tavern. Rich, extravagant, opulent – it was exactly the kind of place Jensen never would’ve envisioned himself dining at. But there Jensen went, taking Jensen alongside him as he introduced Jensen to the apparently finer things in life.

Not that Jensen technically didn’t belong in such areas. A New York’s best-selling author surely wouldn’t be seen as out of place on a rather exotic beach in Florida or a high-scale restaurant, but… Jensen had gotten accustomed to the simple lifestyle he’d thus far allowed himself. Give him a large, greasy burger from any fast food chain and he was set. And while Jared didn’t have any qualms pigging out on some heart-clogging MSG right beside him, he was also the guy who’d take his boyfriend out for some fancy wine and dining.

And biting into his New Year eve’s special wagyu beef, Jensen realized he wouldn’t have his comparatively adventurous boyfriend any other way.

The thought solidified his plans, ever present in the forefront of his mind, courtesy of the little felt box in his jacket pocket. He’d brought the box with him on a whim, originally intending on gifting it in the privacy of his home without any real fanfare. But the restaurant’s atmosphere was pleasant, the buzz of conversation around them settling over their own little table like a comforting blanket. So long as Jensen didn’t foolishly and cowardly duck out, he could still see himself giving Jared the box tonight the moment the perfect opportunity arose.

For now, though, he was gonna focus on his meal, because it really was delicious. It was such a damned pity that they charged outrageous amounts for insanely small servings of exquisite food, because all too soon, Jensen’s plate was empty, and he was left wondering how to request Jared to order more already, dammit.

“Good, isn’t it?” Jared asked knowingly, his eyes twinkling. Jensen smiled rather bashfully while Jared set his fork down on the plate he’d wiped clean of any remnants of his own portion of the beef. “Wait ‘till you get the dessert.”

Jensen perked right back up at that. “Did you already order it?” He asked, confused. Jared chuckled.

“Nah. But I guarantee you’ll love whatever you order just as much as the wagyu beef.” Jared’s wink carried multiple layers that had Jensen sufficiently distracted trying to decode that when their waitress came by, he blindly pointed at something from the menu. He could only vaguely hope it was at least something from the right section, because like he knew where Jensen’s mind had gone, Jared gave him further reason to lose track of his senses by sensually stroking Jensen’s leg with the tip of his foot. If he’d been capable of any coherent thoughts, Jensen would have been far more amused and simultaneously scandalized that Jared had apparently taken his shoe off in public to play footsie, of all things, with Jensen under their table.

Thankfully, their waitress returned only minutes later with their orders, though it felt a lot longer than that to jensen. As she set their plates on the cleared out table – Jensen had no recollection of who came by when to do that – Jared’s frisky foot receded somewhat until it was just a steady, motionless presence hooked around Jensen’s ankle.

“Here’s your chocolate pudding cake, sir,” she set down one of the plates in front of Jared before addressing Jensen as she placed his plate in front of him. “And your coconut pandan pie. Enjoy!” She said brightly. They murmured their thank you’d to her before she left them, Jared taking the time to grin up at her with what Jensen knew to be a megawatt smile. The man loved his food and all, but Jensen was trying not to stare too dubiously at what he’d apparently ordered.

It _looked_ good. The name, however, was throwing him off.

Even as he mentally shrugged, Jensen took a cautious bite, self-consciously aware of Jared’s unblinking stare as he brought the spoon to his mouth. And then blinked, eyes going wide before closing as his taste buds experienced blissful euphoria. When he opened his eyes, Jared wasn’t even pretending to eat, hands folded under his chin as he gazed at Jensen with utter adoration. His eyes flickered down from his eyes to his reddening cheeks, and then further down to Jensen’s mouth, prompting Jensen to speak up through his mouthful of pie.

“What?” He asked defensively. Jared shook his head, looking down to his cake, but still grinning as he dug in.

Halfway through his pie, Jensen belatedly thought of offering to share. Jared’s dessert did look just as scrumptious, but he was torn between the awkward choice of requesting some in exchange, or selfishly keeping his pie to himself. Like a goddamned psychic, though, Jensen found a spoonful of a perfect blend of chocolates, pecans, and ice cream, all carefully balanced on the small utensil as it was held under his face.

“Try some of this,” Jared offered. And even though he looked at Jared to make sure his boyfriend was certainly fine with sharing, he didn’t really give Jared the chance to pull his hand back before Jensen was leaning in to capture the chocolate goodness into his mouth.

A little too late, he realized he could’ve just taken the spoon from Jared’s hand, and his hand even rose at that thought, but it wasn’t really of any use as his mouth was already closing around the spoon. His brain must’ve glitched with its signals too, because instead of taking the spoon, however delayed, his hand was grabbing onto Jared’s wrist, holding it in place.

Ah, well. A quick glance showed that Jared probably didn’t mind… actually, upon closer inspection, Jared’s pupils were blown wide. Hm. If he was already here being romantically hand fed dessert by his boyfriend in public, then he might as well attempt to take things a step further.

Slowly pulling his head back, his lips still dragging on the food as an explosion of warm, candied pecans and cold ice cream was brought further into his mouth while the metal was withdrawn. And still keeping a hold of Jared’s wrist, Jensen ducked back in to lick the spoon clean. One last, final touch, Jensen peered at Jared through lowered eyelashes, coy and what he hoped came across as seductive.

It must’ve worked, because Jared sat there frozen, even after Jensen sat back in his chair, secretly triumphant but not really making any attempts to hide it under Jared’s increasingly heated stare.

“Do you want to try a bite of mine?” He asked innocently, and Jared blinked.

Startling Jensen, Jared’s free hand shot up in the air – his other was comically still in place, the spoon gone rigid in Jared’s hold. Their waitress appeared, allowing Jared to lower his arm, but he didn’t even deign to look at her. “Chequers, please.” He said tightly. “And do you mind boxing this up for us?” She looked dubiously at the slowly but surely melting ice cream in his bowl, but whatever she gleaned from Jared’s expression held her back from saying anything, dutifully taking their half-eaten desserts with merely a nod and disappearing.

Jensen, meanwhile, was freaking out. Did he unintentionally piss Jared off? Was Jared angry over the blatant PDA? He never seemed to have a problem with being all close and cozy to Jensen while outside before, but maybe Jensen had taken things a step too far. Or perhaps Jared didn’t appreciate what he’d done because of where they were –

“When we get home,” Jared said, cutting through all of Jensen’s thoughts when he leaned forward and continued in a dark, husky whisper, heavy with promises. “I’m gonna spread you out on our bed, and I’m gonna pour that ice cream all over your hot, naked body, and I’m gonna lick it off of every inch of your skin while you beg me for release. But just for that, don’t think your little act is gonna go unpunished,” Jared said. “You’re not gonna come until I’ve tasted your entire body covered in the chocolate, and even then, you better hold on until I say you can come. Got it?”

Gulping, Jensen nodded, face and ears aflame.

Looking like the cat that got the cream, mouse, and canary, Jared sat back, satisfied with Jensen’s response. And not a moment too soon, because their waitress returned with a plastic bag in her hands.

“Here you go, gentlemen.” She set the bag down, smiling apologetically at them while thankfully seeming oblivious to Jensen’s plight. “I’m sorry, sir. If you don’t mind waiting, I’ll be back with the bill in a short moment. The staff is kind of overworked right now,” she gestured vaguely towards the full restaurant, and while his eyes automatically tracked the movement of her hand as it finally pointed to the line of people waiting for a table to clear up so as to be allowed seating, Jensen didn’t register any of it.

“That’s not a problem at all,” Jared was saying, and Jensen’s eyes were back to his boyfriend’s lips, but his mind was busy replaying Jared’s words from earlier in his head.

“ _When we get home…_ ”

“ _When_ **_we_ ** _get home…_ ”

“ _Home._ ”

“Jens?” Jared was cocking an eyebrow at him, and though his face was nonchalant, Jensen could see the trace of concern in his eyes. “You good?”

Swallowing, Jensen wordlessly nodded. Jared was still looking at him, and Jensen’s hand went to his pocket.

‘ _He cares for you,’_ a whisper that sounded too much like Mackenzie’s voice said in his head. “ _He cares for you. He wants you. You’d let him do anything, but he wouldn’t do anything you don’t like.’_

_“When we get home.”_

Ears buzzing, Jensen pulled the box out of his pocket, fumbling with it in the process, but fortunately for himself, refrained from dropping it. “I-I want to give this to you,” his throat was dry, his eyes were pinned to the box, and his hand was shaking. He resolutely held the box out anyway, not saying anything else and still not daring to look up at Jared.

Gentle hands cupped his own, steaming the tremors, and without even letting go, Jared opened the box when they still held onto it together. “A set of keys?” He asked, confusion evident in his lowered tone.

Jensen nodded, absently licking his lips. “It’s for – it’s to all the locks in my house.”

Letting one hand go, he still held Jensen’s hand in his other one as the free hand took the keys out of the box, the metal quietly jingling when he held it up by the ring. “Uh. Thanks? But I already have the key to your front door, Jens,” he injected a note of playfulness into his voice, although it didn’t completely wipe away the confusion emanating from his boyfriend.

“I know.” Heart in his throat, Jensen finally forced himself to look up from the box and meet Jared’s eyes. “I–I want you to – I was gonna ask–” clamping his mouth shut, Jensen shook his head furiously, taking a deep breath. With Jared patiently waiting, Jensen cleared his mind, focusing solely on his current objective.

He tried again, this time in one, smoother sentence. “Do you want to move in with me?”

The world froze – or at least, it felt like it did to Jensen, as he anxiously awaited Jared’s reply.

To his hurt and disappointment, Jared threw his head back, and laughed.

Upset, he tried to pull his hand back, but Jared’s hand tightened, and he suddenly wasn’t laughing anymore. “Hang on. I – yes, sweetheart. I’d love to move in with you,” he said seriously, before tilting his head. “God knows – I’ve been spending so much time at your place, it’s been feeling more like a home than my place ever did.”

While he was no longer trying to free his hand, Jensen was still feeling inextricably hurt. “You laughed,” he pointed out, almost childishly.

“I know. I shouldn’t have, but it’s not for the reason you think.” Slowly, he released Jensen’s hand, as if afraid Jensen was going to bolt. Tempting, but making a run for it would undoubtedly gain much more attention, and in face of that option, Jensen stayed firmly planted in his seat. “I just, I’ve been wanting to do this myself. Had everything planned out, but then you looked at me like that at it just, sort of slipped my mind.” He let out a small chuckle, sliding out of his chair.

Heart beat racing, Jensen stared at Jared in fear and anxiety, only just hiding it from his face by looking on with uncomprehending confusion as Jared lowered himself onto a knee beside Jensen, reaching into his pocket.

“Jensen Ackles,” pulling an almost similar looking velvet box, he cradled it in both hands while looking up at Jensen. “I’ve never said this, but I love you.”

Jensen stopped breathing.

“I’m _in love_ with you.

“These past few months, you’ve shown me the world in a whole new light; made me feel like a completely different person. Someone new. And maybe I’m moving too fast, but I don’t even want to think about ever spending another second without you being mine. So,” he opened the box, the gleam of silver all that Jensen could see through his rapidly tearing eyes. “Will you do me the greatest honor in the world by becoming my husband?”

Distantly, Jensen could sense the rest of the restaurant had gone silent, everyone looking into their little bubble. But none of it mattered, not with the man down on one knee in front of him, proposing to Jensen.

When even a pin dropping to the carpeted floor would’ve been heard, Jensen began to nod, slowly before gaining speed until his head was bobbing up and down fervently. “Yes,” he choked out, almost coughing but letting out a wet, breathless laugh instead. “Yes, of fucking course I’ll marry you, Jay.”

Their audience went wild, cheering and clapping and whistling as Jared, without wasting another second, tugged the ring out of the box and slipped it onto Jensen’s finger. Climbing to his feet in one fluid, graceful movement, he pulled Jensen up with him so that they were standing flush against each other with nary an inch gap between them.

Cradling Jensen’s hand to his chest, a finger stroking at the ring, another arm wrapped tight around Jensen’s waist, and Jared kissed him.

The world fell away, narrowing down to Jared and Jensen, to the feel of strong hands and warm lips, to the sensation of his _fiancé_. When they pulled back, Jensen was breathing hard, just as much from the kiss as from his sheer giddiness.

“I love you,” Jared whispered.

Another set of tears washing down his face, Jensen could barely get the words light, but the elation only increased tenfold when it helped him get it out. “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmk if you wanna follow me on Instagram by hitting me up on tumblr and I’ll give you personal updates on when a new chapter is up 😉☺️😁


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost forgot to post but I didn’t! So here we go :D

“This better suffice,” Alona said, pulling a nearby chair and sliding it over right next to Jeff’s at his desk. “You don’t even want to know the things I owe Gabriel for this.”

He eagerly took the thin file she handed to him, opening and scanning its contents even as Alona quietly summarized the details.

“Jensen Ross Ackles, born and raised in Dallas, Texas. Date of birth is the first of March, 1989. Son of Alan and Donna Ackles, he has one younger sister, Mackenzie, who currently resides in Los Angeles, working for the fashion industry,” pausing her recitation of the facts, Alona mocked a grimace at the last bit before going on. “Parents were killed in an automobile accident early February, 1999…” She paused again, face a mixture of sympathy and faint nausea. “It was a nasty one. Ackles was in the backseat when his parents’ heads were sliced clean off.”

Jeff hummed, barely bothering to interject any emotion into it as he skimmed the report for the accent. It was a gory note, reported so clinically and detached for what must’ve been undoubtedly traumatizing, but Jeff wasn’t going to be easily swayed by any type of sob stories for a – possible, but very much likely – murderer whose kills were of even worse nature than some freaky beheading.

Understanding that because she clearly knew him so well, Alona continued, not without a note of judgment in her voice. “Anyway. Ackles and his sister were handed off to their next of kin, their paternal uncle and his wife. But for reasons unstated, Evan Ackles signed off custody of Ackles and his sister to one Hannah Carlson, widowed mother of Steve Carlson, friend of Ackles, in 2003.

“The rest is pretty boring. Ackles started his writing career shortly after getting his English degree. His first book released in 2010, and he’s been steadily pumping one out per year. Stayed in Dallas until his sister moved to L.A. in 2012, and then he moved to his current address on Forrest Hill Road the same year. He’s been living there since, hasn’t gone out of state or anything, not even when his uncle passed away in late 2015, or his aunt when she died early 2016 either.”

Jeff hummed again. He’d been mostly paying attention to Alona even if he wasn’t looking at her, until he flipped to the last few pages in the file. It was a list of everyone who’d ordered Jensen’s latest book as per the order permitted by Beaver, separate from the rest of the pages by being stapled together at the top corner. It wasn’t what Jeff was personally as interested in, but at least he had it. Alona’s voice faded more to the background as Jeff flicked through the pages. There were a lot of names in the handful of pages, and it didn’t help that the font was excruciatingly tiny either.

“Actually, after his latest book release gained him his first of several public signings, he recently flew out to Florida a couple of weeks ago with one Jared Tristan Padalecki. They stayed there for six days at a resort–”

“Hold up,” body stunning, Jeff raised his eyes to look at Alona for the first time since she’d given him the file. “Who did you just say?”

Alona’s eyebrows drew together as she repeated herself, slower this time, though it seemed more to her own benefit than Jeff’s. “Jared Tristan Pad-a-le mk,” she carefully enunciated. “I think it might be Polish–”

But Jeff wasn’t listening, dropping the file onto his desk as he stood and began to pull on his coat. “Where did you say Jared is right now?”

“I didn’t.” Alona stared up at him suspiciously. “What’s going on?”

Catching himself at the last second from snapping at her, Jeff took a measured inhale for patience. It made no difference. “I promise I’ll explain to you in a bit,” he said through gritted teeth. “If you tell me where I can find Jared first.”

She didn’t look like she believed him, yet blessedly responded. “NYC Surgical Associates. Now will you tell me – JD!”

But Jeff didn’t stop. Rushing out, he decided he had no patience to wait for the elevators, so he headed for the stairs instead, the fact that he was on the tenth floor be damned.

oOo

Jared was finishing up the post surgery procedure with Briana when his pager went off. Unusual in itself considering his schedule, more questions only arose in his mind when he checked his pager after drying his hands. Felicia already knew he’d eventually head over to her to return the patient’s file once he finished updating the report, so why was his presence requested right away at the front desk, only minutes after he’d come out of the operating room?

Wary, he made his way out of the restricted, staff only area, and even before he turned the corner at the end of the corridor, he could already hear voices raised ever so slightly above the expected volume for a lobby/waiting room. It didn’t take him long to identify the owner of the voice that didn’t belong to Felicia, and by the time he came into their sight as they did his, Jared was completely unsurprised to see Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

Judging JD’s reaction when he finally registered Jared’s presence, neither was he. “There you are,” he said gruffly, pointedly looking at Felicia with disdain. Unfazed, she only returned it as good as she got with a scowl of her own.

“ _ Dr. Padalecki, _ this is agent–”

“That’s  _ special  _ agent to you–”

“I know who he is, Felicia.” Jared interjected calmly. Felicia continued to glower at JD, while JD just looked displeased in general. “Could you please explain to me why his presence has been evoking a ruckus of a reaction quite inappropriate in a medical workplace?” Jared asked, making sure to blatantly address Felicia.

“Detective Morgan,” she smiled, mockingly sweet, at the person in question. “Is here for a case. He wasn’t to question you, Doctor, even though he doesn’t have a warrant.”

“It’s just the routine, preliminary investigation, which requires no warrant–”

“I wouldn’t mind entertaining Detective Morgan for a bit, Felicia,” he said, cutting off whatever jargon of a complaint JD could make. “If the detective himself doesn’t mind, we can take this to my office.” Keeping his face a neutral mask, Jared gestured back to the corridor he’d just come from.

JD hesitated, narrowed eyes flickering from Jared to Felicia. But Felicia wasn’t saying a word, so with a begrudging nod, JD made to follow Jared.

Silently taking the lead, Jared didn’t say anything until they were in his office, shutting the door behind JD while waving for him to sit down before taking his spot behind his desk. Folding his hands on top of it, he finally let a sliver of emotion show, a careful blend of soft surprise, weariness, and suspicion. “It’s good to see you again, JD,” Jared said, giving him a pleasant smile. “But you’re not here to just catch up… are you?” He left his tone open even as his smile drooped, albeit implicating his lack of certainty as to why JD was here.

And JD bought it, hook, line, and sinker. “No, Jared. Not really,” he said apologetically. He shifted in his seat before raising his eyebrows at Jared. “Doesn’t mean we can’t catch up though, does it?”

Internally sighing, Jared shrugged, giving a half-smile before rubbing his faces. “I mean, I don’t know. You're here on official business…” he pointedly waited for JD to give a confirming nod before he sighed aloud with evident resignation. “It’s great to see you,” Jared repeated. “Except this isn’t just a casual visit, and I’m kinda already with someone else too, now, anyway.”

Making a double-take, JD blinked in surprise. “You are?” He shook his head. “I mean – I am too, but – who’s the lucky person?”

Jared was already nodding, absently smiling fondly in response even his mind raced. Was JD not debriefed on his relationship? Jared knew JD was a stickler for getting as much information as he could – and considering their history, Jared half expected JD to have kept a constant eye on Jared’s life, at least to a certain extent.

Guess the Feds were slower than he expected, and damn if that wasn’t a disappointing thought. “Mhm. His name’s Jensen–“

“Jensen?” Jeff abruptly exclaimed. “Jensen Ackles?” He added, as if for clarification.

Pausing, Jared nodded, slowly raising his eyebrows at JD. “Have you been stalking me, JD?” He said, only half-joking.

Only, JD looked away, looking more grim than Jared’s response should’ve elicited. Holding a fist to his mouth, JD was clearly thinking about something, so Jared stayed quiet. And then JD was reaching into his coat, producing a thin file from what had to be an enviously large, inner pocket. He placed it on Jared’s desk between them.

“Look. I shouldn’t be telling you this,” Jeff began, “but we have reason to suspect that the guy you’re seeing? Is a possible killer.”

Jared stared.

“I’m sorry, Jared,” JD said, looking genuinely remorseful, but Jared was still in disbelief.

Now, Jared was a man of many attributes. He was strong, capable, anyone’s wet dream, and possessive of anything that belonged to him, recently more so towards Jensen. He was also smart, calculating, and analytical. A strategist whose plans never failed, be it to operate on or murder a person, it all additionally made him a rather arrogant, selfish, and possibly a hated bastard, he knew. But as a proficient actor, he hid it well under a mask of modesty, humbleness, and sweet innocence, as he needed to.

Yet Jared was well and truly caught off guard in that moment like never before, because out of every possible outcome he’d prepared for in case anyone ever suspected him to be a killer – that he was – he genuinely did not, could not believe JD was suspecting Jensen, not least because of how wrong JD simply was.

Taking a measured inhale, he knew anger would be a justifiable response. Yet still, he refrained from showing the true level of fury he was feeling in the face of someone who was – inaccurately – accusing his Jensen. “Look,” Jared mimicked, just shy of outright glaring at JD. “I have no idea what  _ the hell  _ prompted you to think such a thing,” that was the truth, as much as it infuriated him, “and I don’t even want to know why you’d say that kind of bullshit to me,” a lie – the moment he found out, necks were going to be wrung out like a wet dish cloth – “but there is no way my  _ fiancé  _ is capable of murder like you’re accusing him of.”

“Fiancé?” Again, JD looked taken aback, but when Jared only continued to stare, rather heatedly, JD’s face turned sympathetic. “Okay, I know this is going to be hard news to digest,” JD tried to say appealingly, but Jared wasn’t having it.

“There’s no ‘news for me to digest.’” Jared stood. “I allowed you in because of our history, but I will not tolerate any of these false allegations against a man I know well – better than you think you know.”

Slowly, JD started to rise to his feet as well, but he made no move to leave as he tried to appeal to Jared once more. “You might think you know him, Jared, but you need to face reality. The fact is–”

“Wrong.” Jared cut him off, tone and posture going dark as he let slip more of his barely restrained anger, bleeding into his facial expression. “Whatever proof or evidence you think you have is wrong. Check them again for all I care; Jensen. Is. Innocent.” Jared hissed, tilting forward almost menacingly. Gratifyingly, JD looked frightened for the briefest of seconds – even if his actions were going to bite Jared in the ass later, he’d deal with it all too willingly, especially if it meant having to take the scrutinization unto himself and away from Jensen.

Infuriatingly, however, JDs face then morphed back into sympathy and regret. “I get this is probably hard for you to hear right now,” he reached into his pocket, whipping out a business card. “But if you’re ever willing to talk…” placing the card on the desk, he exchanged it for the file, tucking it back within his coat.

“Leave.” Jared ordered, and wisely, JD left with a final nod to Jared.

The moment the door closed behind him, Jared slumped back into his chair, digging his hands into his hair. Barely a couple of minutes had passed before his door was opening again, this time, Felicia poking her head in.

“Everything okay?” She asked, face twisted in concern. Sighing, Jared washed away the anger from his face. By the time he lifted his head to regard Felicia, his face was set into mostly weariness.

“Yeah,” he gave her a reassuring smile. “The detective was just here because he thought I knew something regarding a case of his. I didn’t,” he added.

“Okay…” She still looked doubtful, but instead of retreating at that, she let herself in, closing the door behind her. “But what was all that about anyway? You said you already knew the guy,” she remarked.

“Ah,” he leaned back in his chair. “Detective Morgan and I were… briefly acquainted a few years back,” he said.

Felicia’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “For a case?”

Jared smirked. “We had a ‘no-strings attached’ kind of agreement going on.”

“O- _ oh _ ,” eyes wide, Felicia nodded. “I mean – alright then? Why’d it end – not that I’m not happy for you and Jensen, totally ship you guys, and as a general rule feds suck – but what happened?”

He forced himself to avoid showing his growing impatience at her nosiness, casually shrugging. “We had different goals in our lives, so… we parted on an amicable note.” He raised an eyebrow at her, interest undeniably piqued. “What do you have against federal agents?”

She flushed. “Nothing!” She squeaked, which, combined with the rapid flush of her cheeks, was entirely unconvincing. “I just, heh. Have a general… distrust of them?” She tried. At his unrelenting stare, she sighed, slumping. “So I might have… questionable hobbies, but it hurts no one. Really!” She insisted, as his eyebrows raised higher. “If anything, I just… convince some programs to reroute extra money that no one will notice will miss into charities,” she mumbled.

Jared rolled his eyes. “I suppose that isn’t something you go around advertising?” He said, although his tone hinted his statement to be more of a suggestion rather than a question. Still flushing and not quite meeting his eyes, she nodded, shoulders up to her ears.

“Yeah, believe me, I wouldn’t have told you if it weren’t for, you know, your shared secret.” She perked, looking at him hopefully. “I’ll keep your secret if you’ll keep mine?”

Jared had no doubts she could, and had he given her something more substantial, he knew it could’ve held more weight if she actually wished to blackmail him. Not that she needed to, or that he could see her doing so… but Jared wasn’t going to give her any reason to try and hold anything above him.

“Of course,” he said simply, but he was now done with her -- there was no other word for it -- dawdling. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a report to give you soon, Felicia,” he said pointedly. Her eyes widened again as she came back to herself.

“Oh, right. Sorry. I–I’ll just…” she briefly fumbled with the doorknob before she managed to pull the door open. “I’ll get out of your hair now.” Her smile was awkward as she fs ally left, and this time, Jared didn’t waste a second longer. Springing up from his chair, he swiftly locked the door before pulling out his phone.

“Chad? We have a problem.”

oOo

Jensen was on a video call with Mackenzie when Jared got home.

Home. No longer did it feel so detached, like when he’d refer to the apartment, or uncertain like whenever he’d come over to Jensen’s before. Now, having moved out conveniently as his current lease had been ending, and moved into Jensen’s house, Jared was truly finding a place he could call home and mean it, just like any other average joe, and for the first time in his entire life, he didn’t mind the comparison. 

They’d already started unpacking, slowly but steadily incorporating any of Jared’s belongings that he hadn’t already found to be at Jensen’s into the house. It hadn’t taken him long to pack up and vacate his apartment; call Jared a minimalist, but he wasn’t one to see the point in owning more than what was necessary for his daily life. Hell, if he wanted to spend his money frivolously, he’d always done so for his dogs. Which explained why there were more than a reasonable amount of dog toys already scattered around the living room floor. Although, not all of the ones – that weren't still in ones – were bought by Jared.

Yeah, he definitely spoiled his dogs, but it wasn’t like he was hurting for money. And now, with Jensen, at least he was no longer spending money on dog toys.

Nah. Jared’s fiancé deserved to be swimming in gold if Jared had any say in things. Which he did, so the titanium steel band adorning Jensen’s finger was only a drop in the ocean of luxurious worldly materials Jared planned on getting for him.

“Hey, sweetheart,” standing behind Jensen, he cradled Jensen’s head and guided him into a deep kiss, not minding their squealing audience. When he finally let go, he smirked at the way Jensen’s eyes had satisfyingly glazed over, before turning to lay eyes on Jensen’s sister for the first time. “Hello, Mackenzie.” He smiled politely, but the smirk only returned and solidified further when he saw Mackenzie gazing at them dreamily. 

She sighed, the audio more static-y than when they’d talked over the phone. “God, Jensen. You didn’t tell me you were dating such a delicious hunk of a man.”

“Hey!” Jensen sharply turned the laptop away, but with Jared leaning right over his shoulder, the camera ended up being pointed to the far right so that they couldn’t see Mackenzie either. Not that it mattered much, because they could still hear her delighted laughter through the speakers, matching alongside Jared’s. “Shut up, he’s mine!”

Still laughing, Jared came around the sofa to sit down beside Jensen. The dogs perked up at his appearance, Harley abandoned his toy to greet him in return for some rubs. Sadie, on the other hand, looked for all the world as if she couldn’t bother letting go of her favorite stuffed bear to get up and wander over to Jared.

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” He pressed another kiss to the corner of Jensen’s lips, biting back a smile at Jensen’s insistent frown. “I’m not letting you go either, remember?”

“You better not,” Jensen grumbled, slowly straightening the laptop. “You already proposed to me. No take backs.”

“Oh, and you’ve got to tell your side of it, Jared,” Mackenzie exclaimed. Her eyes were as bright as the grin on her face. “”Did my brother pass out ‘cause he couldn’t take the shock? Did you have to perform mouth-to-mouth? I’m sure as a surgeon you’d be quite thorough with Chechen Jensen over to make sure he’s one-hundred percent fine,” she said slyly. She snickered, eyes flickering across her screen to Jensen when he groaned.

“Jesus, Mack!” He protested. Jared was amused.

“Unfortunately, it was a lot less dramatic than that,” he said. “I proposed, Jensen said yes, and the entire restaurant cheered. We also got our bill docked, so there was that… oh, but Jensen did look like he was going to pass it, if that helps.” He leaned away from Jensen’s indignant slaps to his shoulder while Mackenzie let out a triumphant crow despite Jensen jostling the laptop with his movements.

“That would have to suffice, I guess,” she said with no small amounts of glee. “I just wish I could’ve been there in person to see it all.” Jensen settled down, sliding the laptop closer before it could fall off his thighs and onto the ground. Jared didn’t miss the hint of melancholy that seemed to settle on the siblings at that, so he spoke up.

“Don’t worry,” he smiled reassuringly at Mackenzie, garnering both their attention. “When we visit you, I’ll tell you everything that happened in detail. In return, you’re a fashion designer, right? You think some of those skills might help you plan for our wedding?”

Beside him, Jensen choked. Apart from rubbing a soothing hand in circles on Jensen’s back that Jared knew Jensen didn’t actually need, he didn’t pay him much attention. Keeping his eyes on Mackenzie instead, he noticed her eyes tearing up even through the slightly shitty camera’s quality, even as she gasped aloud.

“I–of course! Hell yes I’m planning the wedding – no one else can even dare think they know the kind of wedding  _ my  _ brother secretly wants.” She leaned in closer to her camera, lowering her voice conspiratorially. Obligingly, Jared mirrored her movement. “He’ll try and deny it, but I guarantee you he’s got the details for a fairytale wedding of his dreams somewhere around.”

“I do not!” Jensen squawked. Grinning wide, Jared leaned back into the couch, Jensen’s vehement denial an entertainment of its own. “You – zip it,” he pointed a finger at Mackenzie, who placatingly raised her hands, albeit smiling mischievously, before he turned on Jared. “And you – we just got engaged!” He cried out. “Are you planning on getting us hiit he’d before the month is over? What happened to enjoying the engagement period? Isn’t this supposed to be the process where we begin to really figure out if we’re suitable for each other in the long run?” He ranted.

“Hush, sweetheart,” Jared crooned. Wrapping his arm around Jensen, he pulled him in against Jared;s side. “I’m not going to marry you within a month,” he addressed first. “Mackenzie would lose her mind if we put that kind of constraint on her.” From the corner of his eye, he could see Mackenzie nodding sagely. “Like I said, we still gotta visit your sister in person. She has to give me a talk about hurting her brother equaling my body ending up on the evening news, I’m sure,” he said dryly. Mackenzie’s nodding became more emphatic.

“And Jens, sweetheart. Haven’t I said this before – multiple times, in fact? I’m not letting you go,” Jared repeated, no less firmly. “Whatever this ‘engagement process’ entails, it’s not going to change the fact that – you’re it for me, sweetheart. The only figuring out we’re gonna be doing is discovering what an enviously incomparable couple we’re going to be. Kinda like we already are… but with a stronger bond as I get to begin living each of my days with the knowledge that Jensen Ross Ackles is my  _ husband _ .”

Jensen blinked, misty eyes gone wide with awe. Despite her presence, with her thus far wisely continued silence, Jared went on. “Also, personally, I’m looking forward to enjoying the honeymoon process more, so can you really blame me for being in a bit of a hurry here?” Surprised, Jensen snorted. Mackenzie began chortling, and as if he’d forgotten she was there, Jensen’s eyes slid to the laptop in horror, before he began to fervently swat at Jared’s chest.

“Jared!” He hissed, visibly mortified. “Not in front of my sister!”

“So… does that mean you agree, then?” He waggled his eyebrows, unbothered by the truthfully light taps against his ribs. Mackenzie’s laughter grew louder as Jensen’s laptop dropped to the floor when Jensen tackled him. From the ground, Sadie raised her head to see what the ruckus was about, but it was Harley who got to the computer first, nosing curiously at the screen.

In the background of Jared’s laughing and Jensen’s attempt at landing as many blows as possible, Mackenzie’s laughter stopped. “Oh my god, what a cute dog!” She aww’ed, tone humorous. “Harley – you’re getting slobber all over Jensen’s laptop! No! Bad dog – Sadie! Not you too!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also your comments were amazing seriously guys it hyped me up so much can I get more like that (so I can keep writing please thank)
> 
> Also, how do I do the strike out text thing???


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ik Ik I was supposed to post this yesterday 🤦♀️ Sorry I’m a day late but time has been but an abstract concept that has only progressed into nonexistence now

“So, there’s the Carlsons… who else do we got?” Staring up at the board was far more satisfying than it had been days ago. Heafey was entirely skeptical of the entire progression, but chose to tackle the list of buyers. So far, she was halfway through the first page, narrowing out the least likely candidates for now, such as the teenage buyers. Ideally, juvenile cases were still a possibility, but they could all collectively agree that a bunch of preppy girls and pimply, if lonesome, high schoolers weren’t likely to be going around stringing up a three hundred plus pound man, even if with assistance.

Then again. If anyone with half decent morals knew the kind of man Andrew Dabb was, then they’d end up needing to interrogate every single person on the list.

Appearing at Jeff’s side, Tigerman awkwardly fumbled with a few sheets of paper before he began to put a few of them up. “Uh. Steve Carlson was Jensen Ackles’ childhood friend, I guess? But, uh, around college, Ackles had this close knit group of friends consisting of himself, Carlson, and…” he pinned a paper right beside Carlson’s report. “Christian Kane.” Tigerman stepped back, allowing Jeff to inspect the latest addition while he fidgeted in place. “He’s still in contact with those two, even though Kane spends almost all his time on the road making a living by singing in bars and stuff. He also co-owns a bar in Texas with Carlson, who mostly runs the show, being on location and everything.”

Jeff nodded. “Anyone else?”

Tigerman swallowed – if he hadn’t undergone a background check and already proven himself to be a trusted federal agent, Jeff would suspect him of being guilty of a crime of his own. Much to Jeff’s slight annoyance, the man just had a perpetually nervous disposition in general.

Which was why they all knew and were fine with him working in the background and not on the field, Tigerman more so than anyone else. “N-no? His sister is in California – last time she and Ackles met in person was in June. Last year.” Tigerman scratched his head. “They don’t have any mutual friends as far as I could find. They do call on a frequent basis, which – oh, right,” stumbling, Tigerman pinned up the rest of the papers in his arms – why he didn’t just put them all up in one go, Jeff didn’t know or question. “Here’s Ackles’ call log. I’m still working on getting the records of his web search history, but it’s a little harder to get something off the internet and a personal device rather than hack into the records from a phone company. Sorry.”

“No need to apologize. You’ve been doing great work already.” Jeff clapped Tigerman on the shoulder, making the man flinch. Not for the first time, Jeff wondered how the guy managed to get through all of the FBI’s tests and training, but he didn’t ponder on it for long. If the man could crack a computer, then Jeff could deal with the rest, be it dubious backgrounds or legitimating potential evidence so as to be deemed suitable for handing it in at court. “Tell me, did you get the information on how Ackles and Jared – Padalecki are connected?”

Tigerman nodded jerkily. “Pad–uh–Paluck– _ Jared _ ,” Tigerman subtly shook his head at himself. “One of his coworkers, uh, Felicia Night – Day. Felicia Day. She’s a friend of Jensen’s. They’re not as close, but Miss Day and Ackles share some more common interests, which is how they’re friends. She introduced Ackles to Pa–uhm. Mr. Jared.”

Jeff raised his eyebrows. “Common interests?”

For some reason, Tigerman flushed. “Yeah… have–has you ever heard of LARPing? Sir?”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “Don’t call me ‘sir,’ kid. And no, I haven’t. The hell is it?”

“It’s an acronym, it stands for ‘Live Action RolePlay.’ I’d say Ackles doesn’t really go to them, however, ‘cause he’s not in any of – like, at all, the pictures Miss Day posts from the events on her Facebook. But he’s liked every single one of them. There’s also this forum Miss Day runs about a video game – Ackles comments on it kinda frequently.”

Jeff was impressed. “You get all of this off of a Facebook page?” He asked.

Tigerman shuffled, looking off to the side. “Social media websites are public and easy to gain information from,” he said quietly. “Plus, it’s Facebook, so…” he shrugged.

Jeff nodded. “Huh. Well. Good work.”

Alona chose that moment to appear, hanging onto the door frame as she leaned into the room without entering. “Murray’s gonna be back from delivery in a bit according to his schedule,” she said, looking at Jeff. “You wanna head to his shop now?”

Jeff nodded, already grabbing his coat and phone. “Yup.” Checking his coat pocket, he grumbled, then blinked when Heafey held up what he was looking for, not even looking up from the pile of papers.

“It dropped when you picked up your coat. Was right on top of it.” The words could have sounded condescending, or even like she was wordlessly calling Jeff an idiot for not noticing, but Heafey just managed to sound bored and unimpressed. Jeff nodded in thanks, taking the photograph and tucking it more carefully into his pocket before departing.

oOo

“Agents,” Murray greeted dryly the moment they stepped foot inside his shop. “What can I do for you this time?” He didn’t look any more pleased with their visit than last time, and Jeff honestly wasn’t surprised.

“Just wanted to ask you something quick and simple,” stepping forward, Jeff pulled out the photograph, placing it on the counter in a mimicry of their previous visit. “Have you seen this man before?”

Murray didn’t glance down. “Is it another guy whose house I might’ve accidentally been outside of when he was getting murdered?” Murray asked, face taut. “Because if that’s the case, I’m gonna tell you now. I must have some seriously bad luck with ‘wrong place, wrong time’ syndrome, and I promise I’ll go get Bess looked at today itself.”

Jeff blinked, sidetracked. “I’m sorry, Bess?”

Murray blinked as a flash of irritation sweet over his face. “My truck, dude, remember? Didn’t I tell you – I ain’t ashamed of naming my truck.” He assumed a familiar stance of defense Ives was.

“Uh, no,” Jeff shook his head, glancing at Alona for confirmation. She shrugged. “This guy isn’t a murder victim,” he informed shortly. “Mind just checking this photo and telling us if you’ve happened to see him around lately – or ever?” He impatiently tapped at the photo on the counter with a finger. Murray finally looked down at it, and Jeff moved his hand away.

“What is this guy, some sort of model?” Murray asked after a moment, before shaking his head. “‘Cause he looks it. Man, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was, so you can’t go expect that I haven’t seen him in a magazine or the TV or some shit,” Murray said.

Jeff held back a sigh. “No, Mr. Murray, this man is not a model,” he said slowly. “Does he look familiar to you?”

Murray shot him a glare. “Okay, I’m pretty sure I  _ told  _ you not to call me that,” he said heatedly. “It’s Chad. Four letters. C-H-A-D. Shouldn’t be too hard for an agent.”

Jeff smiled tightly. “My apologies,  _ Chad. _ And it’s special. Agent.” He tossed back.

Murray harrumphed, looking back to the photo. “Anyway. If he ain’t a model, then I dunno what you want from me. I’ve never seen this man before in my life.”

Jeff narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure?” He asked. “What about the first of last month – the day of the Dabbs’ murder? Did you happen to see him lurking around?’

“Man, how many times do I gotta tell you?” Chad snapped. “Rephrasing the date ain’t gonna rephrase my memory. I’m telling you, I saw nothing! I heard nothing, and I sure as hell didn’t smell nothing except for a bunch of packaged meat waiting to be delivered in the back of my moody bitch of a truck!”

Gritting his teeth, Jeff nodded tersely. “Thank you for your time and cooperation,” he said stiffly. “If you happen to remember anything otherwise–”

“Yeah, yeah.” Murray waved an impatient hand. “I’m sure I’ve got your card ‘round here somewhere. Maybe.“ Murray crossed his arms. “Have a good day.” He smiled thinly.

Resisting the very strong urge to give the guy at least one sucker punch, Jeff nodded at Alona, who’d so far been waiting patiently in the background and quietly observing the proceedings, to leave. Preferably, while they were still on somewhat good terms with Murray and not after giving the man reason to file a lawsuit instead.

“I’m starting to hate that dick,” Jeff muttered as soon as the door was closing behind them, his coat flapping behind him as he stormed off and away from the store, Alona hot on his heels.

“You mean you haven’t already?” Alona jibed, smirking. “So, then he’s still a suspect?”

He came to a stop, coincidentally right where they did last time. “There’s no way he’s telling the truth,” Jeff insisted. “He’s gotta be covering up for something. H _ e has  _ to.”

oOo

“Who’s that?” Chad gestured to the duffel bag Jared was currently filling. He had his arms crossed as he casually leaned against the doorway, yet despite his valiant effort to remain unbothered, Jared didn’t miss the wave of disgust to pass over his friend’s face.

Pausing in his ministrations, Jared rocked back onto his heels. “I don’t really know,” he said genuinely. “All I know was that I saw him on the way to the grocery store yesterday.”

Chad blanched “Jesus, Jared. Is that the kid from this morning’s news?” He asked, looking distressed. “His friends are going insane, making a big fuss about sweeping the whole town for him!”

Jared looked at the leg he still held in his hand, wrapped neat and tight in clear plastic. “Kid,” Jared remarked lightly with a slight raise of his eyebrows. He didn’t look at Chad, too busy mentally calculating the size of the limb and the amount of space he had left in the bag. “He isn’t a little kid. Have some faith in me. He’s legally an adult. I checked.”

Chad spluttered, straightening from the doorway and dropping his arms to his sides. “That’s not the point!”

“As for his oh-so-concerned friends,” Jared continued in a dismissive tone, as if Chad hadn’t spoken. “Guess we should reward their grand search,” he said vaguely, before resuming his attempts to squeeze the leg between two arms, all of it on top of most of a torso. Butchering was the most cathartic method of killing his victims, hence the basement of Chad’s butcher shop, courtesy of Chad himself, but packing up the mutilated pieces was a bitch in comparison to dumping a whole body in any random body of water.

“Okay, first off, you. Not ‘we,’ you. I have nothing to do with this, remember? Matter of fact, I haven’t even been to this basement since I began to run this place, had no need to, so I’ve got it nice and locked up with a dusty, rusted padlock.” Chad held up another finger alongside the first. “Secondly – Jared! Are you _ even _ trying to be careful?” Chad hissed. Even though it was late in the evening and Chad had closed up his shop for the day, he still made a weirdly conscious attempt to lower his voice. “It’s like you’re trying to get caught – what happened to your whole, ‘low -profile, no publicity’ MO?” He exclaimed. “Man, you’re my friend and I love you like a brother, but there’s jackshit I can do if you actually go get your ass caught by the feds.”

The limb ended up being squished inside between the arms, making for a tight fit. With only the finish and head left, Jared carelessly tossed the head inside, unconsciously propping it up right when he placed the thigh in the bag diagonally across the horizontally placed limbs. Deeming it satisfactory, he roughly yanked the zippers of the duffel bag closed and then stood, giving his best friend his full attention. “I was being careful,” Jared said tersely.” Until  _ Detective Jeffrey Dean Morgan _ decided to set his sights on Jensen.”

Chad’s arms dropped to his sides again, the wind knocked out of his sickle as whatever argument or retort he had lined up died on his lips. “You really do love him,” Chad said shrewdly, the look in his eyes saying everything else he wasn’t verbalizing aloud.

Jared stared. Underneath his carefully blank mask, his face twitched with a multitude of emotions he refused to give life to by speaking them. “I want JD regretting having ever suspected Jensen,” he finally said. But he knew, his deflection was as damning as the truth, and based on the look on Chad’s face, he knew it too.

Every nerve in his body was itching, but he stood tall and unblinkingly until Chad finally looked away first. Silently, Jared let out a slow exhale, muscles every so slightly relaxing.

“What’re you gonna do?” Chad asked softly when Jared bent down to pick up the duffel bag straining at its seams. For a while, he didn’t say anything, the only sound in the silence of the basement was their breathing as Jared stared evenly at Chad, even while his thoughts were racing to consider how much he wanted to tell him.

Although, did it really matter? His best friend was going to find out sooner or later, anyhow. With that concluding thought in mind, Jared curled his lips into a slow, dark grin.

“I’m gonna hunt him down, and I’m gonna make sure he really understands who’s the predator… and who’s the prey.”

If anything, Chad didn’t look happy at all with his words. But he still proved his loyalty as a childhood and lifelong friend by letting the discussion drop. “Are you done?” He directed his raised eyebrows at the mess of blood and tools Jared stood amidst.

Jared replied without a subtle shift of his gaze. It wasn’t like he didn’t know what Chad was looking at. “I’ve just gotta clean up.” He looked at Chad appraisingly before lilting the bag in his hand towards Chad. “Wanna load this in the trunk while I finish up here?”

The gag he received clearly wasn’t entirely exaggerated as Chad hastily backed away. “Fuck, nah. I’m good, thanks. No us in murderers, so you can take your beautiful time.”

“Technically…”

“Nope!” Turning his back to Jared, Chad all but jogged out the thick, steel doors. In actuality, it was a back entrance that led directly into the sewers that Jared had personally incorporated. Chad wasn’t lying about the untouched padlock, and the least Jared could do for Chad after he’d willingly lent the basement of his shop was to ensure that no one’d ever suspect what other kind of butchering occurred right beneath their feet.

oOo

It took Jared a couple of hours to clean up, dump the body as he’d planned, and get home. Jensen had still been up, so they decided to tackle the few remaining boxes left to unpack. That lasted until they got to Jared’s spare bedsheets, and under the thin guise of checking to see if it would happen to fit on Jensen’s, now their, bed by chance, their productivity disintegrated when Jared could no longer resist Jensen impishly wiggling that pert ass around the bed.

Now, past midnight, Jensen and the dogs were sound asleep upstairs, while Jared… Jared was downstairs, standing absently in the front of the glass doors heading to the patio and backyard, nursing a glass of whiskey. Deep in thought, he’d already had to refill his glass once, but still wasn’t coming to any resolute ideas.

The stairs creaked, and a few moments later, Jensen was joining him, hugging Jared from behind. “Aren’t you coming to bed?” He asked from where he was nuzzling his face between Jared’s shoulder blades. Jared hummed. Tossing back the glass, he downed the rest of its contents in one gulp. Extending an arm, he managed to slide the glass onto the nearby kitchen counter before turning around.

Planting his hands on Jensen’s waist, he leaned down to kiss him, keeping their lips pressed together as he walked Jensen backward until he stood with his back against the wall.

Jensen let out a breathy sigh, head falling back when Jared pulled back to attach his mouth to Jensen’s neck, a stray hand skirting up the edges of Jensen’s shorts, slipping under it to dance his fingers along Jensen’s delightfully bare skin. “Jay…” In the otherwise silent night, Jensen’s whisper was loud in Jared’s ear, and only emboldened by Jensen’s forever positive reaction, Jared allowed his hand to climb further up. His wrist snagged against the bunched up fabric, and the irritation that had persisted, itching away within his chest since a certain detective dropped by increased its agitation.

Growling into Jensen’s bare shoulder, Jared removed his hand from under Jensen’s shorts, only to roughly tug it down until it pooled at Jensen’s ankles. No sooner did he kick it away that Jared was hoisting Jensen up, encouraging Jensen to wrap his legs around Jared’s waist, supporting his weight fully even as he balanced him against the wall.

He was still loose and open from their earlier activities, so Jared merely inched his sweatpants down enough for his cock to spring free. Rarely did they find themselves wearing underwear at home around each other, and having established condoms as unneeded soon into the start of their relationship, Jared pushed inside the glorious heat, silken walls enveloping his bare flesh in a tight hug. Jensen’s arms were wrapped around Jared’s neck in a similarly tight embrace, preventing him from withdrawing completely. But honestly, Jared never wanted to let go of what he had, right here and right now in his arms.

With Jensen clinging to him akin to a monkey on a tree, Jared angled his hips in a sensual twist and roll, as far as the constricted movement allowed. Even that was enough to have Jensen gasping into his mouth, nails digging into Jared’s skin through his thin, ratty t-shirt. He was so tight, so warm, so  _ alive, _ muscles clenching around Jared in time with his pulse. Licking into the heat of Jensen’s lax mouth, Jared marveled at the sheer liveliness of the writhing human in his arms. How it would be so easy to bite down on the delicate skin centimeters away from his teeth until he could taste the blood. He could already envision the coppery liquid filling his mouth.

Pulling his mouth away from Jensen’s, he set his teeth against the side of Jensen’s throat. He increased the pressure of his bite.

Moaning, Jensen tilted his head, baring himself to Jared’s vicious mouth.

And Jared let go, laving at the abused skin with a soothing tongue. Suckling at it, he knew there would be a colorful bruise there, but he also knew without a doubt that the skin was unbroken.

He dropped his head to Jensen’s shoulder. Digging his fingers into Jensen’s hips – soft flesh yielding away from his questions hands, pulled apart smooth as butter to reveal the mass of blood, nerves, and muscles previously hidden within uncovered by Jared’s razor sharp touch – Jared slammed his hips forward, punching against Jensen’s prostate. His fiancé keener, gasped, moaned high-pitched in his ear.

Jared snarled, face still hidden. “Why do I love you?” Through harsh pants, he could smell the whisky in his own breath.

“Why– _ hah _ ,” Jensen’s hands were fruitlessly scrabbling for better purchase. The words slipped out without his conscious decision – control, always in control, stay in control  _ but what was life before Jensen?  _ Bland, colorless, no emotion, momentary highs, stay controlled – but he found himself slowing the pace of his thrusts, allowing Jensen to think and give him an answer, solve the burning flame within his chest.

Jensen groaned when he realized what Jared was doing. “Oh, you fucker,” dropped his head back to the wall, breathing heavily, “my good looks?” He snarked, and Jared rewarded his impudence with a punishing grip. Control, cold, emotionless, and in control, Jared let one hand go to skate it along Jensen’s throat. Oblivious, unknowing, uncaring of the danger, Jensen swallowed, continuing with his eyes closed. “Because we– _ hm _ –we fit?” He said, quieter.

Jared pressed a kiss to Kensen’s jaw, momentarily appeased. His hand clasped onto Jensen’s neck on the other side anyway. Always in control, squeeze, intoxicate, distract, then press. The windpipe was so easy to crush.

“Why do you love me?” Dark and lower yet, his voice revealed the foreboding threat Jensen was under. Distracted and zoned in on Jared’s ever so slightly increasing pace, Jensen was carried away in blissful arousal to take notice of more than just the words.

“Because you’re sweet.” Jared bit, miles of unmarked skin available for retaliation, to rebuke. “‘Cause,  _ oh _ , you’re kind. Understanding.” Lie, lie, lie, punished with merciless ramming against Jensen’s prostate. Jensen, who melted in Jared’s arms until he was practically putty, free to do with as Jared pleased. “I love you, ‘cause you,  _ hm _ , care for me like no –  _ uh  _ – no one else has.”

Lies. A beautiful creature, scoundrels and lowlifes couldn’t be the only ones attracted to Jensen’s soul, glowing bright as a supernova. The only mass removed was the tarnishes of its past.

He squeezed, and Jensen moaned, loud and without restraint.

“I love you because you’re so good to me,” Jensen breathed out. “You’re smart, ha-handsome, and –  _ mm! _ – you can do anything–have anything,” Jensen said in a rush. “But you’re mine, and I’m yours.”

The one truth uttered from a deluded mouth, plush, sinful lips mouthing words through the ecstasy hindering him from reality. Hands freeing Jensen’s throat, they fell, and fell lower still. “I love you because you make me feel safe,” cradling his cock, stroking, Jensen whined. “New. Like I can do so much more.” Jensen bit his lip, barely holding back a yell as Jared swiped the pad of his thumb against the slit. “Like I’m worth so much more.” Jensen cried aloud, back arching. Come spurted into Jared’s open hand, catching every last drop. Shuddering, Jensen buried his head in the crook of Jared’s neck, mewling as he came down. He twitched, hips moving closer, then away, over sensitive as Jared pounded into him, teetering on the edge of more than one cliff, heart beating hard enough for every single impending fall.

“I love you,” Jensen whispered, and Jared was coming, spilling deep within Jensen’s inviting entrance. Over the roar of his powerful – mind-numbing, body-shaking, blinding – orgasm, the rush of blood through his ears deafening, Jensen finished, pushing Jared off his final cliff. “Because you’re a good man, Jay, and you give me hope.”

Coming down, his breathing was ragged. Jared was still falling, and the ground was nowhere in sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a handful of scenes to write to finish this fic but it’s been slow going 😖 I swear I will not leave this incomplete and as I keep saying, y’all have around 25k words left at least before catching up to how far I’ve got written. Your comments are doing great to help boost me to write but things have just been so weird lately that I’ve barely been doing any 😰 but I swear! Maybe five scenes left to write and the moment I finish the fic updates will be more consistent!


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a lil short (and a day late...) but the next chapter will be a lil longer than usual for what it’s worth

Alona was pretty focused on her computer that she didn’t even look up from whatever she was working on when Jeff passed by her desk. Unnervingly, her head snapped up as soon as he pulled the doors open, completely dashing his hopes for leaving without attracting any attention. “And where are you going, JD?” She asked sweetly.

“If I told you what you already know, would you let me go anyway?” He said, resigning himself to the fact that he wasn’t going to leave anytime soon, now. Ferris trained the girl well, her own levels of stubbornness withstanding as Alona rose. But instead of facing off against him like Jeff expected her to do – she even initiated Ferris’ stance perfectly, from the single raised eyebrow combined with the pout, to the crossed arms and wide stance – she hooked her arm around his instead, leading him to her desk a few feet back with a winning smile. he wondered if the guise of giving her a smaller scaled promotion would cover up the change of seating from right beside the doors, before quickly shooting down the thought. Even if Alona genuinely deserved a promotion, she’d still find other ways to pester him.

“Humor me,” she said brightly, but she sounded frustrated underneath her cheery tone, lowered so she wasn’t easily audible to the others passing around them. “I just wanna discuss something with you, and if you still think you need to go do what you’re gonna do,” she shrugged. “Then you’re free to do so. I certainly won’t stop you.” Watching her snag a file from her desk before leading him to the conference room they’d set base in, Jeff highly doubted things would be as simple as that.Not like he could do much but resign himself to his current fate, and having already done so the moment Alona called him out, Jeff merely sighed and obligingly sat down at a chair, looking up at Alona when she remained standing.

“Okay, I’ve been thinking,” she began. “You know how our only solid clue is Murray, right?” Jeff was ready to deny that, but seeing him open his mouth, Alona was quick to shut him down with a roll of her eyes. “Solid, JD,” she emphasized. “Anyway. With the help of Tigerman – and you might get a call from my bank asking why the fuck I had to buy a fuckton of Nerve Ddamage, FYI – I got him to help me with getting a file on Murray.” She slammed what Jeff assumed was the said file out of the two she held onto the table, momentum from her angled toss sliding it over the smooth surface until it came to a stop a few inches from him.

Eyes scrunched up, he was still trying to parse through her words first, however. “Why would your bank call me?” He asked, confused. “And what the hell is-is Nerve Damage?”

“High-caffeine drink,” Alona answered shortly. “I don’t know how much of it the kid drinks, but with the amount I’ve had to order since you’ve recruited him, I’m not surprised he always looks like he’s fighting off the remnants of being electrocuted with all that twitching.” She impatiently waved at the file, gesturing to him to pick it up and read it. JD didn’t know why she was so adamant on him going through the file when they both knew she’d be blurting out the more important details anyway, but at least he could multitask.

And just like he predicted, Alona was speaking before Jeff could even finish reading Murray’s name at the top of the file. “so Murray’s got the basic history; single child, okay in school, kind of the jock type that he didn’t grow out of. He inherited his dad’s shop when old man Murray retired. Didn’t even go to college, just opened up shop straight out of high school. Here’s the thing,” bending forward to place her hands on the table, remaining file still in hand, Jeff could feel the intensity of her stare boring into the side of his head. “His dad ain’t exactly low-scale. Dad’s got several branches in several states, but Murray chooses the New York one?” Jeff looked up at her. “Their home branch, however, is in San Antonio. By all rights, it would’ve made sense for Murray to stay in Texas. Which, he did, for a few years before he moved here.”

Leaning back in his chair, Jeff abandoned the file in favor of crossing his arms. “Maybe he wanted a change of scenery?” He said cautiously, but Alona was already shaking her head, standing up straight with a sense of triumph.

“Say he did,” Alona granted. “But then, explain to me why he ‘coincidentally’ decides to move here with his childhood best friend.” She finally dropped the other file she’d been holding onto on the table. Jeff’s eyes flickered down to it, pulling it to himself as she went on. “And guess what?” She asked rhetorically as he began to open it. “Childhood BF? One Jared Tristan Padalecki.”

Jeff froze, staring down at the open file. Right there was a picture of the doctor, top right corner and surrounded by details Jeff didn’t need to look at to know.

“Think about it,” Alona was saying. “Physical characteristics – he certainly fits the bill. Tall, strong, and as a doctor, he should be well-versed in human anatomy.” Her words caused Jeff to silently shift in his seat, but too caught up in her rant, Alona didn’t pay it any heed. “As a friend of Murray, he’d totally have reason to lie. We haven’t shown him Padalecki’s picture, after all, just Ackles’. Plus, as Ackles’ fiancé, who else could be a better suspect of reenacting a murder scene from Ackles’ book than his own–”

“No.” He didn’t shout. The deathly silent tone was enough to bring Alona to a screeching halt, and she stared as he threw the file back onto the table as if touching it burned like a hot potato. Standing, he repeated himself while looking Alona right in the eye. “No.” He didn’t need to raise his voice, and he didn’t, no matter how outraged he’d become when she dared to proclaim such a thing. “Jared is innocent in all of this. Leave him alone.”

Alona narrowed her eyes. “How do you know that?” She asked, skeptic. His glare morphed into that of a warning, telling her to drop the matter while she was still ahead.

“I just do.” He started to walk away, except Alona stood in front of him, tall and fiery in her determination to get an answer out of him.

“Yeah,  _ how? _ ” She bit out, beginning to look aggravated. “C’mon, JD. I let you chase dust with Ackles. Didn’t ask much and even gave you the information you wanted.” She jutted her chin out, directly and unrelenting. “I can handle you investigating a dead end, but I’m not going to let you abandon an actual, solid lead just because you claim this random person is innocent. So, how do you think he’s–”

“Because I loved him, okay!” Alona clamped her jaw shut, surprised – either by his words, or the volume, Jeff didn’t care to look close enough to find out. “Because I fell in love with that guy, and I know he’s capable of anything but being a cold-hearted murderer.”

Alona gaped. “How-I-you knew him?” She stammered out. Her body language had loosened up, no longer on the offense. Jeff, meanwhile, had his muscles coiled tight defensively.

Sighing, he slumped back into his seat, though he didn’t relax. “I hooked up with him,” he amended for her. “Regularly.” Tiredly, he watched her sink into a chair across from him. “It was just a sex thing at first; no feelings involved, you know?” Jeff didn’t wait to see if – or how – Alona would react, going on without pause. “Met him at a bar of all places. He was with his colleagues, and I’d just wrapped up a case… it was supposed to be a one-night stand, but…” Jeff broke off, abruptly aware of who exactly he was saying what to. Alona… Alona was his partner on this case, nothing more. She wasn’t someone – someone like Hilarie, maybe – to tell how one night with Jared was explosive enough to make Jeff forget about everything else. He couldn’t tell how much of a gentleman Jared was the next morning, how he’d been so understanding about Jeff’s need to be completely dedicated to his job, how he’d still related to yearning for someone to warm the sheets with at the very least.

He definitely wasn’t going to tell Alona how he’d blown Jared against the door, making him come hard enough to warrant an exchange of phone numbers. “We’d talk, sometimes.” Pillow talk, except they were just killing the time as they’d geared up for the next round. “I’d vent as much as I could about work,” Jared, looking at him with deep, soulful eyes, making him feel like he was actually being listened to, a welcome reprieve from fitting to make himself heard, from the challenges of establishing his worth at work. “And he’d tell me about his… it was just so obvious, how much he cared about his patients. He’s not just brilliant,” quick and adept at thinking on his feet more than once, who needed Grey’s Anatomy or House M.D. when Jared was living the real thing? And through him, Jeff got to experience many days as a renown general surgeon quite vicariously. “He goes above and beyond the rest of his colleagues to make sure his patients are alright. Hell, the  _ one _ time one of his patients bit it,” broody, anguished, and self-flagellation was written on Jared’s face when he’d fucked Jeff that night. “He was a mess.”

“He’s a good-hearted person, Alona,” he raised his gaze from the floor to look her in the eyes. “I wouldn’t have fallen in love with him otherwise.”

Alona was silent, gaze gone distant as she mulled over his words. When she focused her eyes back on Jeff, her tone was more mellow. “Why’d you break up then?”

Jeff let out a humorless huff of laughter, looking away again. “He didn’t feel the same.” He gave a small shake of his head. “Damn bastard was so sweet about letting me down too, I almost forgot what was going on.” Jeff sighed. “Apparently, only one of us remembered why we’d ever gotten into the whole thing,” he sighed-eyed Alona. “Just a stress relief between respectively grueling careers.” Blinking, Jeff rubbed at the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes to avoid seeing Alona’s wide, apologetic eyes. “And it sure as hell wasn’t me.” He took a deep breath, daring to open his eyes, only for his sight to be fixated on the file he’d thrown away, all the way at the far end of the table, having narrowly missed falling off the edge. “After that, I decided to cut ties. Didn’t wanna soil anything, so… I figured it’d be best for me to bow out while I could and mend my broken heart,” he finished, with a wry smile at himself.

Alona didn’t say anything. Her lips pursed as she regarded Jeff with what looked too much like pity for his comfort. “I’m sorry,” she finally said, but Jeff was swift to dismiss her before she could go any further.

“Don’t be.” His grin became a little more larger, a lot more genuine. “I’ve met Hilarie, and I’ll tell you this. I wouldn’t change meeting her for the world.”

Alona nodded, however, she still looked troubled. “I’m glad to hear that,” she said. “And thank you – for telling me about Jared. But, JD,” she looked at him imploringly, and he could already feel the dread curling into anger in his stomach. “You have to understand where I’m coming from. There are too many possibilities I can’t miss here, and I understand,” she said forcefully when he opened his mouth to cut in. “I understand what he means – or what he meant,” she hastily amended, quickly continuing before he could interrupt her. “But, JD, you’ve gotta realize – this makes you too close. I’ll keep what you said in mind, and I won’t disregard it. But your emotions being clouded because of a bias cannot result in the entire team leaving even a single stone unturned.”

Stiffening, Jeff slowly rose to his feet, towering over Alona when she didn’t stand right away as well. “If that’s how you feel,” he gritted out. “Then so be it. Waste your time, I don’t care. Just remember what I already told you when you come back empty-handed.” He strode for the door, ignoring Alona as she got to her feet. “ _ I’m _ gonna go stake out Ackles’ place, because I’ll be damned if he isn’t the twisted bastard we’re looking for.”

“JD, you’re letting your emotions control you.” It was the steady way with which she said it. Not the words, but the absolute certainty in her tone that had Jeff pausing at the doorway. He held his breath, awaiting her next words. “Did you ever just take one second to stop and consider that maybe this isn’t about Ackles? Face it, JD. We may have only found out about his and Jared’s involvement afterwards, but if anything, you’ve been more crazed to pin the blame on Ackles if anything.” He could hear her drawing closer, speaking just a little bit quieter so that her final words were for his ears only. “Did you ever consider that, maybe, you’re just not over Jared as much as you want to be? This case has been pushing you to its limits trying to get answers, are you one hundred percent sure that you’re thinking about this case logically, without an ounce of jealousy driving your actions?”

Jeff took a measured inhale. Slowly let it out. Took another deep breath, then left without responding, because Jeff was genuinely afraid of what he might’ve done if he stood there for even a second longer.

The dread and anger twisted into something else, something he couldn’t put a name to. Yet, it sat there, dark and heavier than any other emotion, filling his guts with itself until he could feel the acrid bubbles of nausea at the back of his throat.

oOo

Alona knew she was pretty. Admittedly, when coupled with her blonde hair, it gave people the impression that she was a bimbo, but she soon learned how to work that to her favor years before enlisting. Truth was, she was brains as well as beauty, and her time in the army gave her the deadly addition of brawns. Holy Trinity under her belt, Alona felt powerful, but confined and oppressed, taking orders from a man who didn’t even accompany them out into the war zone he sent them out to.

She’d lucked out when she got hired by the FBI, an old friend taking Alona under her wing. Samantha may have given her a boost, but Alona had to prove her worth and show her talent. And she did. Given the most unlikeliest of promotions by Jim Beaver himself, she was partnered with the notorious Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Famous in the department for his unfailing ability to bring down the most elusive of criminals, Alona had been ecstatic at the prospect of solving complex cases to ultimately bring down even the richest of public figures, armed with hardcore proof of scandalous double lives and felonious secrets.

Yet, it wasn’t without facing the harsher reality. Because evidence wasn’t as easy to obtain without agonizing over how the defense lawyers would find a loophole. Those who deemed themselves untouchable, while usually not, gave strong enough reason as to why they’d believe so, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan… At the end of the day, JD was still just a man. A weary human hardened by his past not unlike Alona. Whatever pedestal she might’ve put him on, it faded away, initially with her determination to prove herself a formidable partner, later when she realized that just like anyone else, JD needed a partner – maybe not her in particular, but she was still given the price page to be the one to ground him. She was his back-up on the field, soundboard and equal strategist during the investigations, and played the contradicting role to his own when interrogating suspects or interviewing victims or their relatives.

But she also became, dare she say it, a friend. Long days and sometimes even longer nights spent together, Alona was given an insight into who JD was: normal. Couldn’t function without his coffee, but would forget to use the restroom if buried too deep in solving a case. His suit was unwrinkled and impeccable at the start of the day, but it didn’t take him long to rumple it, looking for all the world like he’d be more comfortable in jeans and a simpler shirt that wouldn’t cost much if gotten dirty. Eloquent and proper when he spoke to others, but Alona heard the lazy drawl he did nothing to hide when in the office. And, of course, there was the flask of whiskey he always kept in his pocket. So long as it continued to remain as not a problem, Alona found no harm in blithely ignoring it.

So, knowing JD as much as she could say she did, and watching him walk away from her without a word… Alona only steeled her resolve to interrogate Murray. Because JD was still human, and humans had the perpetually unfortunate tendency to let their emotions overrule their logical thinking, no matter how great a person they were otherwise.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to give y’all the link for Jensen’s home (in the fic. Not irl. Irl, Jensen lives in Texas, and that’s all we know for damn good reason)
> 
> https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1718-Forest-Hill-Rd-Staten-Island-NY-10314/32315462_zpid/
> 
> Feel free to check it out to get an idea on how it looks on the outside and the inside’s layout (the interiors furnishing is definitely not how I see it but I’m not making a damn blueprint inc furniture and decor or whatever for the inside)
> 
> Anyway, this chapter is a single (long) scene but important for the development of the case... got some of that for a bit, so I hope you don’t mind we won’t be getting j2 for a while 😬😅

“You again.” Murray sighed. Wiping his hands on an old towel, he eyed her curiously as he slung it over his shoulder. “Tough guy ain’t with you?” He asked when it was clear she’d come alone.

She gave him a saccharine sweet smile, not entirely due to the questioner as much as it was a reaction to the question itself. “No, just me.” She raised an eyebrow at him, lips curling into a soft pout. “Why, would you rather talk to a guy instead?”

Rather than leering at her like she’d expected him to, he merely raised his hands with a slight shrug. “Hey, I ain’t being sexist. I appreciate your career choice –just, not so much when that’s the reason you guys keep showing up at my store during business hours, badgering me about things I just keep repeating.” His nostrils flared, showcasing how vexed he was. “Look, I’m sorry about the murders, I really am. But I’m also sorry you can’t seem to understand my case of wrong place, bad wheels. I told you I’d call if I could help, and as much as I’d rather not having to deal with that other agent with the stick up his ass, I meant it when I’d said I’d call – if. I had something to call about.”

Patiently waiting for Murray to finish blowing off his steam, Alona couldn’t deny that ‘if’ Murray was innocent, then he was doing a damn good job at convincing her. But woman on a mission that she was, Alona wasn’t going to allow herself to be swayed by Murray’s blatant dismissal. “Are you done?” She asked dryly when he stopped talking. At his brief nod, she nodded as well, taking a step forward. “I really do want to discuss things with you,” she said soothingly, before her voice turned wry. “And yeah, it’s gotta do with the case. However, I don’t wanna make this too much of a hassle for you, so,” she shot him a grin, testing the waters. “If you want, I can come after you close up. There’s a nice cafe nearby, and I’ll even pay for whatever you want.”

He didn’t exactly look convinced. “That late in the day, I’d need a drink, not some frou-frou shit,” he muttered, before letting out a put-upon sigh. “Screw it, let’s get this over with.” Slamming the towel onto the counter, he pulled open a drawer, rummaging around in it before shortly withdrawing his hand. Shooting him an unimpressed glare, she didn’t say anything, not wanting to risk the tumultuous agreement they’d managed to come to already.

Following behind her, it didn’t take him long to lock up, fielding with the thermostat and then flipping the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed’ before they were outside, Alona watching as he fumbled with the keys before getting the right one. When he noticed her staring, he cocked an eyebrow in question, but she silently shook her head, even as she kept her eyes on him as he hooked the keys to the belt of his jeans. January in New York had Alona rarely parting from her coat, but apart from his threadbare shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, Murray wore no extra layers to protect him from the cold elements.

“So, have you always wanted to be a butcher?” She asked as he stepped beside her, easily matching her stride without bothering to increase his speed and force her to keep up when she started walking.

Murray side-eyed her. “Does it have anything to do with the case?”

Despite herself, she let out a small chuckle. “Just trying to make conversation,” she said lightly, not at all offended by his gruff and weary caution.

Murray harrumphed. To her surprise, though, he actually did respond. “Not really. I didn’t have plans for anything. School wasn’t my thing, so college was outta the question. When my old man offered to hand me the reins, I figured, why not?” He shrugged, hooking his thumbs into the pocket of his jeans. It made his elbows jut out, but she didn’t miss how he took an extra step to the side to avoid brushing against her. “‘Part from the taxes, it’s actually pretty easy money. Get to work with meat all day long, and apart from the smell and the math, I can’t complain. I mean, it was this or rotting my life in a ditch after boozing, partying, and fucking all night long, every single night. Still got no idea why, but I went with the less glamorous route.” He smirked at her, and Alona hummed. She was saved from voicing her thoughts that he surely wouldn’t have appreciated hearing by arriving at their destination. True to her words, the cafe definitely wasn’t far from Murray’s shop, and it served well for the purpose she had in mind.

They waited in line without talking, Murray looking around and taking in the place while Alona looked at him, studying his profile without being too obvious about it. Any time it seems like Murray might’ve caught her staring, she casually turned away as if she was just as interested in observing her surroundings. When they got to the front of the line, Murray quickly spouted his order before side-stepping dramatically. “I remember something about you insisting this being your treat, my lady?” Coupled with the douche-y grin to complete his air-headed jock of a look, the polite words sounded unnatural coming from his mouth, potentially mind-boggling had it not been for the tone that was more appropriate with his looks.

Alona rolled her eyes. “Freeloader,” she muttered under her breath. Stepping up to the counter, she gave the barista a polite smile before making quick work of conveying her order and paying. While Murray’s drink was a plain Americano and cheaper than her own drink, his sandwich, muffin, granola cup, and scones made Alona grit her teeth as she handed the barista her card.

“We’ll be out with your order in a few,” the barista automatically said as she ripped out the receipt from its machine. “Please feel free to sit wherever you’d like.” Taking back her card pressed along with the receipt, Alona had her head down as she struggled to fit it all back in her wallet. Thanking the barista distractedly, Alona stepped out of the line as she finally got it crammed inside before lifting her head. And almost panicked, until she spotted Murray already seated by the window, looking outside. When she appeared at his side, he stopped drumming at the table with his fingers, tilting his head up to give her a sunny smile.

“I ain’t pulling out your chair for you, if that’s what you're waiting for.” Resisting the urge to swat, slap, or punch that infuriating face – she’d take whatever, at this rate, so long as she got to deck this _suspect_ one way or another – she slid into her seat across from him.

“So.” Alona folded her hands atop the table. “There’s two ways this can go,” she began. “She wasn’t too worried about anyone overhearing – the cafe was empty enough, and unless Murray decided to outright confess to the murders explicitly, they’d be fine. “We can make awkward small talk until our orders arrive. Or,” she leaned forward. “We can cut to the chase.”

Murray exhaled. “And there goes my fantasy of this being a date.” Alona narrowed her eyes. “Let’s talk shop. Yours,” he added, “unless you’re secretly after mine, in which case, no thank you.” He crossed his arms, but there wasn’t an ounce of humor on his face. Without further ado, Alona reached into her coat and whipped out a thin file, startling Murray. “Jeez!” He exclaimed, bewildered. “What is it with you feds and the damn magical coats?”

“Not too loud please,” Alona said absently. Placing the file on the table, she pulled out a single photograph, leaving the file closed as she put the photo in front of Murray. “Do you know him?” She asked simply.

Murray’s eyebrows knit together. “Uh, yeah?” He said slowly. “That’s my friend.” He didn’t elaborate until Alona silently prompted him to, raising her eyebrows expectantly. He huffed. “That’s Jared,” he clarified. “Childhood best friend. You want a story time or something?”

Shaking her head, Alona pulled the photo back, leaving it on top of the file before lacing her fingers above it, resting her arms on the table. “What can you tell me about him?”

“I don’t know, that sounds like I need his consent for this,” he shot. When Alona only stared flatly, Murray sighed. “You must be the life of the parties,” he mumbles.

“As a matter of fact, I am.” Alona retorted, visibly surprising him. “Now, Jared. _Tell_ me about him.”

He cast her a disdainful stare, but gratifyingly cooperated. “Not much to tell. We’ve been friends for as long as I can remember. Went to school together, slept over at each other’s houses, got into trouble and drooled over the chicks, normal bro things.” He shrugged. “He went to college though, I didn’t. Dude became a hella skilled doctor, which, I’m not surprised. He’s always been the brains between the two of us, I’m more the brawns,” he said easily, before smirking. “Not that anyone had a problem with it. Jared was all skinny and begging to be picked on when we were kids, he was any bullies’ wet dream of a target. But seeing me, a grunt, following right behind him?” His smirk grew more smug as if he was recalling some sort of inside joke. “Yeah, no one had a problem.” The smirk died away as he came back to himself. “Anyway. My buddy’s made a big man of himself now.” He snorted. “Can show up anyone if he wants to. But he still wants to stick with my sorry ass, for some reason, so yeah. About three decades in and we’re still good friends.”

Alona leaned back in her chair. “So you still keep in contact with him?”

Murray scoffed. “‘Course I do, didn’t you hear my little biography? We meet up every now and then too, although mostly ‘cause he thinks I’m sort of damned dog-sitter.”

Alona quirked an eyebrow. “Dog-sitter?” She repeated.

Murray rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Dude decided to get himself some darned mutts and apparently, that went without saying that I’d be the one to look after them whenever he’s out of town.” Murray explained. Sense it a possibly smooth segue, Alona latched onto his words.

“Does Jared go out of town often, then?” She asked, careful to keep her tone light and casual. It went in vain, though, because Murray abruptly narrowed his eyes at her.

“Why the hell are you asking, anyway? Why’re you so focused on my buddy and – actually, _how_ and why do you have a photo of him?” He asked defensively, gesturing to the photo.

Switching to damage control mode, Alona folded her hands again, not attempting to hide the picture, but not exactly leaving it easy to see – or grab – either. “Just a routine follow-up for a potential lead, Mr. Murray–”

“Chad.”

“ _Chad._ There is the possibility that your friend may know something invaluable for the case–”

“Then why don’t you just interrogate him?” Murray cut in. His eyes were alight with suspicion and fury, to Alona’s dismayed annoyance.

“We do not see the need to involve him–”

A mug appeared in her vision blocking her view of Murray’s pissed off face as a barista interrupted her attempts at de escalating the situation. “Here are your orders,” the barista said cheerily, somehow oblivious to the glaring tension at the table emanating from Murray whilst placing their drinks and Murray’s food on the small table. Hurriedly snatching away the file, Alona avoided looking up at the barista just yet, unwilling to lash out at the undeserving girl. When she could safely look up, all she could muster was a thin-lipped smile that was probably more of a grimace.

“Thanks,” she said, making a conscious effort to unclench her teeth. The girl, a different one than the one who’d taken their orders, beamed at Alona.

“No problem! Let us know if you need anything else.” Alona watched as the girl practically flounced away before slowly turning back to Murray. While apparently having calmed down, all traces of his previous anther was almost completely diminished but for the cool glare of his eyes over his Americano as he noisily slurped from the cup.

Alona took a deep breath. “As I was saying, we don’t intend to involve your friend until we’re more certain that he can help us. Until then, we don’t wish to disturb him in case he really doesn’t have anything to do with the case,” she lied.

Murray put down his mug. “You’ve involved me,” he pointed out.

It took several ounces of self-control to not look pained. “We have crucial footage with you in it,” she reminded. “You’re one of our… more solid leads.” Murray didn’t seem pleased, but nodded anyway.

“Still don’t see why you’re asking _me_ about his life story, though.”

Alona smiled, a touch grimly “We’re getting there.” Taking a moment to cool down, Alona reached for her latte, taking a hearty sup despite wincing as the hot liquid burned her tongue. “You mentioned that your friend goes out of town,” she said, trying to lead the conversation back on track. “How often does that occur?”

Murray wallowed a sip of his own coffee before responding, not bothering to look at her as he pulled the plate with his sandwich closer to himself. “Not that often,” he said, lifting the top slice of bread to scrutinize the sandwiches’ contents. “I mean, he only ever used to travel for work when he needed to drop off the dogs. Because we usually go home for the holidays together, the dogs get to go to this luxury, spa-resort kind of thing until we get back. He spoils his dogs like crazy.” Murray shook his head before taking a huge bite of his sandwich, apparently deeming it acceptable, which he emphasized with a loud groan. “Damn, this sandwich makes missing my lunch worth it,” he said through a mouthful of half-chewed turkey and lettuce. Alona hid her wrinkled nose into her mug. “Anyway. Last time he left for work was several months ago, but he did fly out of state a few weeks ago for personal reasons.”

Alona forced herself to remain outwardly calm. She slowly set her mug back on the table. “Oh?” She said, making her voice sound barely attentive. She eyed the whirling depths of her latte.

Murray hummed, although Alona wasn’t entirely sure if it was in confirmation to her barely there question or in appreciation of his sandwich. “Yeah. Fucker wanted to take his boyfriend to Florida for Christmas. Florida. For Christmas!” Murray repeated, face flabbergasted. “Saddled me with the damn hounds so I couldn’t even go home. Not that I was gonna, without him.”

Alona was torn. While she desperately wanted to delve into Jared’s connection with Ackles after the perfect opening Murray just provided her with… she internally sighed. “You didn’t go home for Christmas just because Jared wasn’t going to be there with you?” She asked instead, resorting herself to continue down the line of questioning she’d started with, even if it wasn’t entirely the path she wanted to take. 

Ah, well. She’d just have to find a way to come back to it later. And if Murray had a problem with her asking.

“I mean, yeah.” Murray shrugged again, face thoughtful as he looked down at his plate. “I’ve spent almost my entire life with my friend nearby during, like, whatever important stage of my life I was going through. So it just seemed weird to go back home to see my family and him without him being there.”

Alona tried to nod consolingly, but her mind was too busy racing. “Home?” She questioned, playing dumb. “So you’re not from New York?”

Murray laughed aloud at that. “God, no,” he said. “Texas born and raised, Texan blood through and through,” he proclaimed proudly. “Naw, my buddy moved here for the job and I just hitched along. My dad conveniently owns a branch here – he runs this chain of butcher shops, so it was no biggie for me to move from one location to another when the gist of it all’ was the same. With a job and my buddy nearby, plus a brand spanking new life? I’ve been cruising through life.”

“You moved all the way from Texas to here just for your friend?” Alona summarized dubiously. “Are you sure you’re just friends, or is there some sort of Stockholm syndrome situation going on here?” She asked, faking a laugh to lighten the words she genuinely meant. 

Murray snorted. “Nah, like I said. I’m just too used to being near him. Besides. It was either hop on board a plane to a new life or waste myself away in the same old dusty sandpit I grew up in. Now, don’t get me wrong; I love my home town, but the sights here?” Eyeing something off to the side behind Alona, she didn’t turn around as he let out a low, telling whistle. “Man, it’s a whole different brand of fresh tastes.”

Alona rolled her eyes. “Right,” she said dryly. She hoped her transition to the previous topic came out smoother than how it sounded to her, but surely she could blame it as her lack of willingness to put up with his blatant objectification of the female workers. “And Jared? You mentioned he has a boyfriend? He’s not straight, then?” She clumsily tackled on.

Murray’s focus snapped back to her, swiftly foregoing drooling over the baristas to narrow his eyes at her with skeptic weariness. “He’s pansexual,” he stated. “Not that it should matter, but yes. And technically, fiancé. They’re engaged now.”

Alona raised her hands. “Hey, I didn’t say anything,” she said. “You think I was a saint instead of experimenting like anyone else in university?”

And just like that, the wall Murray abruptly erected in his friend’s defense came back down. “Girl on girl action?” He leered. “That’s hot.”

“And also none of your business,” Alona said smoothly. “So, fiancé. When did that happen?”

Murray’s face scrunched up as he thought the question over. “Uh… sometime around New Years? Dunno when exactly. My buddy just sent me this text out of the blue when he was in Florida about how he knew this guy was the one and how he was gonna propose and stuff. Next thing I know, he’d popped that question and now they’re engaged. Or, so he told me the last time we met.”

“When did you last meet up?” Alona swiftly followed up.

“Not an interrogation, my ass and balls,” Murray muttered. He bit into his sandwich, looking too smug for Alona to think it was anything but incidental when he answered her incessantly probing questions with a mouthful of food displayed unashamedly. “‘Bout a few days ago.”

Alona hummed. “Did you meet the guy your best friend’s engaged to?” She asked. Murray thankfully swallowed before responding. 

“Not yet? I dunno, our schedules don’t exactly coincide well enough for me to actually meet the fiancé. But Jared did recently move in with the guy – ‘round the same time as Jared proposed, funny story that – so I suspect there’ll be like some sort of party soon or something.”

“Wow,” Alona said, thrown off a little. “They sound serious,” she said honestly. “Do you really not know anything about the guy?” She pressed.

Murray picked out some lettuce from his sandwich before promptly shoving a huge chunk into his mouth, effectively finishing off his sandwich. “Guy’s a writer, has a weird name that also starts with a J… Jason, maybe?” Looking entirely unbothered by his lack of knowledge, Murray started on his muffin. “Figured it’s a match meant to be, same first letter; he’s got a weird first name, my buddy’s got a gibberish jumble of letters for a last.” He demolished the muffin in a few bites.

“What’s your friend’s last name?” Alona asked by default. Technically, there was no reason for her not to know when she had the picture of the guy, but Murray didn’t seem to think the question odd with his immediate answer.

“Padalecki,” Murray announced, and Alona grimaced at the amount of food stuck on his teeth. “It’s the only bit of Polish he’s got in him, far as I know.”

Alona smiled stiffly. “Alright, then. Thank you for your time, Chad.” She put Jared’s photo back in the file and tucked it within her coat, getting to her feet. As soon as she stepped away from the table, Murray sprawled his legs out under it, remaining seated as he munched on his scones. “If there’s anything else, you can expect a call from me.”

Murray rolled his eyes. “I look forward to it,” he said sarcastically. “Oh.” She paused, hand lingering on the back of her chair, arching her eyebrow at him. “You know I’ll be telling my friend all about the hot ass that dropped by and was just so interested in his taken ass, right?”

She stifled a sigh. “I wouldn’t expect any different,” she stated flatly.

Grinning, he gave her a lazy, two-fingered salute, clearly dismissing her. And while she normally would’ve been reproving over the harsh dismissal coming from some whitewashed _boy,_ Alona gladly left him behind.

Grumbling under her breath as she exited the cafe, she dug into her pockets for her phone, hitting speed dial and holding the phone to her ear. When she was once exhilarated to have the number stored in her contacts, now, the novelty had long since faded, emphasized when the person didn’t pick up, and after several long seconds, by which time she was almost to where she’d left her parked car, the call went to voicemail. Alona sighed.

“Hey, JD. I just talked with Murray about Jared. He didn’t really say anything more than what we know already… but I’m gonna look deeper anyway, just in case.” Breathing out, Alona paused in front of her car, not yet opening the door. “How’s the stake out going?” She added hesitantly, and then proceeded to internally smack herself for sounding like a jilted lover, Nevermind the fact that the small conflict they nonetheless had was throwing her off balance. For all their outward appearances and behavior towards each other, she really did consider JD a good friend, so being out of sorts with him didn’t mess her up from just a work perspective.

“Call me if you’ve got any news,” Alona said shortly. “Talk soon.” Cutting the call, she groaned, tapping the phone to her head. “Frickin’ unbelievable,” she muttered to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In other news, I’ve got a whopping 105k words total for this fic so far?! And I’m not done yet?! Ayyyyyyeeeeee 😬 my hand be cramping but we almost there...
> 
> Leave a comment to help me get through the end? 🥺


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyeee so sorry I forgot to update! It’s been a hectic few days which — Eid Mubarak!  
> Also, I realized I linked the wrong house in the previous(?) chapter’s notes. Fixed that so feel free to check it out again

Jeff watched as his phone lit up with another notification above the missed call one. He was petty enough to ignore it when he’d seen who was calling, but he wasn’t gonna be as stupid to ignore a voicemail, especially considering the nature of the case they were investigating. Even though Ackles hadn’t left his house yet for the entire day so far.

Picking up his phone, he listened to Alona’s message, rolling his eyes when she didn’t tell him anything other than what he’d expected. He told her, but the darn, stubborn girl insisted on chasing a useless lead, and then had the gall to accuse him of doing so?

No matter, however. Jeff wasn’t moving from his spot, because screw Alona’s allegations back at the office, incorrect as they were. Jeff wasn’t jealous – he could have scoffed at the thought. What he was, was damn sure that whenever Ackles left his house, he would undoubtedly, if unwittingly, lead Jeff to somewhere incriminating, somewhere all too damning when Jeff caught Ackles red handed, one way or another.

oOo

And he did follow Ackles when he finally ventured out of his house… to a nearby park. Granted, it was the same one from Andrew’s pictures, which could have been a clue… but he was also with a couple of dogs. Jeff hadn’t thought of Ackles to be a dog person. But there he was, throwing a couple of tennis balls in rapid succession in the same direction, laughing when, in their glee, the two dogs head butted each other.

“Sadistic son of a bitch,” Jeff muttered, watching the dogs’ confusion. Jeff shook his head. He’d rather go through the rest of Ackles’ call log, but he couldn’t risk taking his eyes off of the perp for even a second. Begrudgingly, he settled down, resigned to keeping his eyes on Ackles playing with his dogs for the foreseeable future.

oOo

The office was gradually emptying as people left for the day, but Alona didn't budge from her desk. Heafey had taken the extensive list with her home a while ago, and soon, it was just her and Tigerman left, his presence several tables away a reassuring companion. As she printed yet another report, Alona glanced at the time at the corner of her screen. Past seven and nearing eight, she had yet to hear from JD, but she was trying not to worry too much. If he was still trailing Ackles, then so long as he didn’t run into Jared, JD would be fine.

Unless Jared ran into JD first. The thought was too concerning, and all too feasible if the reports she was looking at were any indication. Everywhere Jared had been, from his hometown to his out of state conferences, there were cases after cases of missing persons reports. A lot of the victims, if not all, were average, middle to lower class civilians. Most of them hadn’t even been recognized as missing until after a significant period of time. And none of them were found to this day.

There was the chance that it wasn’t all Jared, but it was too strong of a possible trail that Alona couldn’t neglect any of them. While she couldn’t do anything about the unsolved cases outside of New York, Alona was resolved to start investigating those within the state. At least, JD wasn’t outright the type of person Jared would go for. Namely due to the fact that if, god forbid, he disappeared, then they would all find out about it soon and bring every law enforcing officer to find him – alive.

Actually, now that she was thinking about him, and with no small amounts of paranoia, Alona picked up her cell. It was now eight, and the man was long due a check-in anyway. Just as she was about to hit dial, however, her screen flashed as a call came in from said man himself.

“Speak of the devil,” Alona muttered as she accepted the call, raising her phone to her ear. “Hello?”

“Alona,” JD’s greeting was uttered in a terse voice. “We just got a call from DJ. He thinks we might have another one.” Alona’s throat went dry. “I’m sending you the location, and… don’t forget your gun.”

oOo

The press weren’t at the site, thankfully still oblivious and uninformed, it seemed. Which suited Jeff just fine, because the place was teaming with forensics anyway. At the center of the site sat an innocuous looking paper bag, carrying a single, packaged limb.

Ducking under the caution tape warding off this section of the woods, Alona joined him, eyes automatically drawn to the bag. “Did we find out who it is yet?”

“Not yet,” Jeff answered. “So far, we’ve got forensics working with the DNA from the leg. Haven’t gotten any hits yet.”

Alona side eyed him. “You think it’s from our guy?”

Jeff took a deep inhale, and if he closed his eyes, he could imagine he could smell the faint traces of copper seeping through the air. “Ackles hadn’t left his house all day for the past few days, except for the park. Unless he drove hours away from the city within the time it takes me to check with base.”

Alona rolled her eyes. “Which still seems highly unlikely, so of course no one’s gonna offer to take shifts.”

Jeff grumbled a few choice words under his breath that Alona didn’t bother asking him to repeat aloud. 

“We haven’t gotten any hits for the rest of the body?” Jeff shook his head, pulling his hands out of his pockets to cross his arms. “Doesn’t seem like the regular M.O. if it is our guy.”

Jeff snorted. “Do we even have an idea of how he normally goes about with his hits to declare a pattern? We’ve got two corpses executed in completely different styles in one scene. At best, this is from our guy, only nothing fits.” Jeff let out a ragged exhale. He needed a drink. And caffeine. Can’t go wrong with Irish coffee, except he’d need to buy the coffee first for that.

Alona shifted, facing him rather than the bag. “And at worst?”

“At worst…” letting his head fall back, Jeff regarded the starlit night sky. “At worst, we’ve got more than one killer. Maybe Ackles’ got accomplices. Either that, or we’re in over our heads here.”

oOo

It took some convincing, but JD finally took the night off. Alona had no doubts that he’d only return to stalking Ackles before the sun rose, but she was really banking on Hilarie to prevent JD from leaving his house for a few hours, at least.

As for Alona, nothing stopped her from taking her work home with her, and so long as Samantha didn’t plan on making any unannounced visits, she knew she’d be able to continue her work at home in peace. As the days passed, a sense of urgency overtook Alona each time JD bothered to show up at the office, looking increasingly haggard and borderline manic. That wasn’t all, however. Suspiciously well informed – and well hidden – anonymous callers marked every day with poor Osric getting the brunt of the mysterious tips leading to the finding of a new limb. A limb a day meant they now had all extremities of one Brendan Fletcher, but the kid’s head and torso remained unfound unless and until the next day’s call.

They did try tracing the call, but the only result of that were phone booths all around Manhattan, and not a single call was made from the same one. Personally, Alona hadn’t even realized they still had working phone booths.

On one side, Alona managed to get Osric to let her be involved with the case, from tracing the calls to investigating the mutilated corpse slowly but surely being put together. On the other hand, her office desk was overflowing with report after report on missing persons. Because of Fletcher, Alona unwillingly pushed back interrogating the families from the older cases. It would’ve helped, if JD wasn’t pointlessly staked outside a friggin’ hermit’s home and talked to Fletcher’s friends and family instead. But he wasn’t, so it was left to Alona to pick up the slack.

“I  _ so _ deserve a raise.” Halting in his steps, Tigerman peered at her desk. There was no hiding the combination of sympathy and pity away on his face at the mountain of papers Alona was elbow deep in. Not for the first time, she was losing track of her train of thoughts when she couldn’t immediately find the paper she needed right away. “And a bigger table.”

“Amen to that,” Tigerman muttered to himself, sounding clearer than Alona had ever heard him. He grimaced, his voice becoming meeker again, what they were accustomed to hearing from home when he wasn’t talking to himself and was actually addressing someone, such as right now. “If you ask Detective Morgan or Mr. Beaver, I’m sure they’ll let you move into one of the conference rooms for now. Especially if you show what you’ve got already.” Playing with the strap of his crossbody satchel, Tigerman shrugged, looking at his feet. “If they clear you, I’ll be happy to help you move,” he offered.

“How many Nerve Damages do you want in return?” Alona retorted without thinking. As Tigerman looked taken aback, she winced. “Sorry. Not enough sleep or proper human interaction lately,” she tried for an appealingly apologetic look. “I greatly appreciate your offer and will keep it in mind,” she amended. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

Tigerman nodded. “Yeah… see ya.” With an awkward grin and salute, he left, leaving Alona alone in the office.

Sighing, she reclined in her chair, stretching out her arms and stifling a yawn. Her body yearned for the comforts of her cozy bed at home, but she was determined to make a little more progress for the night. Scrutinizing the endless amount of papers waiting for her, however… “Organizing still counts as progress,” she mumbled to herself. Pulling her chair closer to her desk again, she attacked the reports with renewed vigor, confident that even if straightening up the pile didn’t immediately uncover anything new, it would still be easier to go through them in the morning if they were in some sort of order. Pretty soon, time was flying past an oblivious Alona as she concentrated rather intently on her task, unheeding of her surroundings in favor of neatly filing away individual reports with sticky notes attached to the front cover, summering the information within and all other possible relations with the rest. Just as she closed the last file with a satisfied smack, the office’s doors opened.

Frowning, Alona lifted her head, swiftly yet absently taking in the time. The vague sense of shock at how it had been a couple of hours since she last surfaced to the world – when Tigerman left – was surpassed by wariness when she saw the tall man slowly approaching her desk. With only the lamps on her table turned on to illuminate her workplace and nothing else, the man’s face was shrouded in darkness until he came to a stop right in front of her.

The moment the man’s identity registered in her brain, Alona was yanking open the drawer under her desk. Two seconds later, she had her gun in her hand, safety off, cocked, and readily aimed at Jared’s face. “How did you get in here?” Her voice was deadly, her hands steady and unwavering, ready to put a bullet in Jared’s face should he so much as flinch in the wrong direction.

He didn’t even blink. “Your coworker neglected to lock up behind himself,” Jared said nonchalantly. “Probably thought he was doing you a favor because you’re still here.” Finally, his gaze flickered down to the gun in her hands. Swallowing, she readjusted her grip, but refused to take her eyes away from his cold, emotionless ones. “You should be careful with that,” he said lightly.

“What are you doing here?” She repeated through gritted teeth. That made him return her stare. The corner of his lip quirked up. It looked eerie on his otherwise expressionless face.

“It’s really nothing personal,” he began. And before she could so much as blink, Jared’s hand lashed out.

She blinked, gaping at her empty hands. The gun was now held in one of Jared’s, and in the other, her lamp's light gleamed off a blade unconcealed. The length of it was red, and as she watched, a droplet of blood teetered on the very edge before falling to the ground, disappearing into the shadows.

Like a puppet’s strings were cut, she collapsed onto her chair. Staring up at Jared with wide, horrified eyes, her hands rose to clutch at her neck, as if she could hold the gaping wound closed and prevent the blood from gushing out. Bright red slipped through her fingers, and she dimly took in the spray of blood across her computer screen and the files she’d just finished organizing.

“But I’m sure you’re familiar with how it goes,” Jared continued. “If it’s any consolation, I apologize that you have to pay for JD’s mistake.” His face may have been blank, but Alona highly doubted the heartless bastard had it in him to feel any sort of remorse.

Gagging, struggling to breathe without feeling like she was choking on her own blood, in agonizing pain as her blood continued to spill free like a waterfall, she could feel her life slipping out of her. The corners of her vision were darkening, blotting out the view of the rest of the office from the edge and working inwards, until her hazy vision could only regard Jared weakly. The light from her lamp was fading out, her eyelids growing heavy, her ears felt like they were underwater. Settling her gun on her desk, and even in her diminishing state, she couldn’t help but briefly entertain the thought of reaching for it and putting a bullet in Jared’s head. He must’ve known though, that she was too weak to actually carry it out, because he left it just out of reach from her hands, slowly going numb from the blood loss anyway.

His eyes were on her as she took a shuddering breath, coughing and then whimpering from the pain the action elicited, and with a small cloth, he wiped off the blood from his blade. It was the last thing she saw, the actions of a cruel and psychotic man seared into her brain as his cold, aloof eyes stayed trained on her until the last remnants of her life slipped away with her blood, her beating heart no longer pumping out any more as it came to a permanent stop.

oOo

Jeff didn’t get the call until the next morning. The ringing of his phone startled him to consciousness, and he was dismayed to realize he’d fallen asleep. Casting a cursory glance at Ackles’ house – unless he’d gone out in the early morning when Jeff had fallen asleep, then he was still home, as he’d been for the past twenty or so hours – he pulled out his phone, frowning at the screen just as it stopped ringing. From the lock screen, his frown only grew deeper when he took in the amount of missed calls and voicemails, all from the office. Before he could swipe through them, his screen lit up as a call came through again, the same name flashing at him as the one belonging to a majority of his missed calls. Sliding to accept, he held the phone to his ear, yeeee automatically returning to watching Ackles’ house.

“Jim?”

It takes half an hour from Ackles's house to the FBI office. Jeff made it in half the time, but everything around him was still going too slow. Trapped in a dreamlike state, his feet felt like they were dragging through mud even as he forced himself through the crowd of people gathered in the main office.

Beaver saw him first, and he immediately made his way to Jeff’s side. Placing a hand on Jeff’s shoulder, his guts clenched further at the abnormal look of regret and grief on Beaver’s face. “Jeffrey–”

“Where is she?” His voice was flat, his stance firm and determined even as he was already crumbling within. Behaved took one long look at him, but before he could repeat himself, Beaver nodded, and led Jeff to Alona’s desk.

He stumbled, only just catching himself. Beaver’s grip on his shoulder tightened, but Jeff shook it off, drawing closer. Eyes wide and long since having gone blank, Alona stared unseeingly at the ceiling. Her head was tipped back, revealing the gruesomely long and deep gash splitting her throat open. There was blood everywhere, hours old, he could tell by the shade. It was as analytical as his mind got before going blank.

“JD…”

He remembered when she was first assigned as his partner, her cockiness and attitude grating. But she stubbornly remained by his side through various cases, never once losing her swagger. And overtime, he’d gotten used to it, even grew fond of her. He wouldn’t say they were friends outside of work because he didn’t have any of those, but if anyone could’ve warmed their way through Jeff’s barriers, it was definitely her. And how was he to resist, with her stubborn persistence, forcing her lively presence on him? He didn’t. He’d gotten accustomed to the new way of life that involved an active partner, no matter how infuriating it got, and had gotten comfortable…

“Jeffrey.”

And now she was dead. Murdered in their very office with people swarming and gawking as if she was just another victim, just another casualty.

She wasn’t  _ just _ a casualty.

Inhaling sharply, Jeff tore his eyes away from her torn throat, pinning his stare onto Beaver. He wanted answers, and so help anyone who tried to stand in his way. “What happened?”

Forensics chose that moment to enter, and as the agents clad in white began to take over the scene, ushering away the others with their presence, Beaver took Jeff by the arm and led him away.

“I’ve already checked with security,” Beaver said in a low voice. “They got nothing.” They came to a stop on the other side of the office with Jeff’s back to the rest of the area. Beaver’s eyes were settled over Jeff’s shoulder, watching the forensics agents as they worked. For the life of him, Jeff couldn’t bring himself to turn around. “Cameras on the streets glitched around three AM, and same with the cameras inside the building. We don’t have any footage for anything for almost a solid hour. By the time the systems came back online…”

“And the security?” Jeff snapped. “What happened to the fuckers downstairs watching the live feeds?” Beaver shook his head, eyes flashing between apologetic and a silent reminder for Jeff to watch his tone. Jeff didn’t give a shit. “They called the technicians. They couldn’t get it to work in time.”

“And no one thought to check in?”

Beaver shook his head, but he still looked dubious himself. “They said that Alona had been alone in the office working nonstop at her desk for quite some time without a break. Said they didn’t think to bother her… or that apparently, the system crashing was anything more than an accident.”

“Bullshit!” While Beaver didn’t say anything aloud except to subtly raise his eyebrows, Jeff knew the sentiment was mutual.

A thought struck him, bringing him up short. “Wait, what was she working on?” Beaver shrugged. He didn’t seem to have any other answers forthcoming, and it was enough to get Jeff to turn around. Ignoring Beaver calling out for him, he strode back to Alona’s desk, grabbing the attention of a nearby forensics agent. “I need to go through her desk,” he informed her shortly.

“I’m sorry, sir. But until we–”

“It wasn’t. A request for permission.” Glaring at the agent, he sidestepped her. Grabbing onto some gloves from one of the agent’s open kit, he rounded the desk. Taking a deep breath and promptly recoiling, he mentally braced himself, and crouched down, pulling on the gloves.

Apart from the recent case of the mutilated kid, there wasn’t anything else on the surface. Reaching around, carefully avoiding even brushing against her, he pulled open the drawers. Her handgun in the first one, safety on and fully loaded, and a bunch of writing supplies in the second. Files in the last one, some empty, the others containing information from what he recognized as past cases. Standing, he looked around until he found Beaver, waiting a few feet away with a frown on his face and his arms crossed. Jeff stepped out from behind the desk. “Where are the rest of her files?” He asked.

“What field?” Beaver asked, confused.

“The files she was working on!” Jeff bit out impatiently. “What, was she sitting here polishing her desk for a few hours straight?”

Beaver’s frown grew deeper. “Jeffrey, this is how we found her.”

Reading back as if he’d been physically struck, Jeff’s mind raced. “Before the cameras went out,” he questioned, “did the cameras have a view of what she was doing before they went out?”

Beaver opened his mouth, visibly slow to respond, but before he could, someone cleared their throat. Turning, Jeff came face to face with a nauseated Tigerman, who was resolutely looking anywhere but their eyes, or to where the forensics agents were gathered around.

“I-I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear,” his voice was thick, as if he was on the verge of tears. “I, uhm. I left pretty late – I always do. I said bye to Alona b-before leaving,” he swallowed. “I – she, yeah. She had a lot of stuff on her desk. S-she looked kinda harried, I guess? And was visibly stressed, you know.” Blinking furiously, Tigerman looked down. “I, uh. Thought you should know.” Shrugging, when his shoulders went down, his entire posture slouched even further than usual. “I-I don’t know where it is, though,” he trailed off. Beaver was nodding, but Jeff was no longer paying much attention to Tigerman.

“I need those files,” Jeff announced. “I’m heading to the security office myself. You…” he looked back at Tigerman in thought, multiple of them running through his head at once. “You’re good with computers, right?” He didn’t wait for a response. “Can you find out what Alona was looking into based on her computer history or whatever?”

“I-I can try, sir.”

Jeff nodded. “Don’t just try. Get me something,” he ordered.

“Jeffrey, hang on a second now,” Beaver intercepted. “You realize we can’t release anything until the forensics–“”

“I don’t care,” Jeff cut him off harshly. “You're still the head of everything here. Give him whatever clearance he needs. I want answers, _ now.” _ Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Tigerman paling at the threatening tone of his voice. Beaver didn’t look impressed, but Jeff didn’t care. He was storming out of the office before anyone could say anything else, intent on giving security hell to pay if they didn’t have anything satisfactory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m halfway through one of the last few major scenes of this fic and while I haven’t written in... several days... I’m getting there?


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the long awaited for scene!!   
> And wow, a lot of you really didn’t see Alona’s death coming??? Really?! Wow.. huh
> 
> Anyway, sorry for the slight decrease in posting frequency. I’m desperately trying to ensure I have a good amount prewritten ahead of what I’m posting and I’m currently at 110k so I’m desperately trying to keep ahead but I also don’t want to leave you guys hanging or thinking I’ve disappeared... anyway you prob have enough of my rambling if you’ve made it this far.   
> Enjoy this new chapter!

Checking in with security was useless. To make matters worse, Tigerman had approached him immediately afterwards, looking helpless.

“What do you mean, empty?” Jeff had exploded, making Tigerman flinch.

“The harddrives, RAM, storage – it’s been taken out,” Tigerman tried to explain, wringing his hands. “It’s like her devices have been gutted out. Whatever could be removed is missing. And the rest – it’s like someone set a controlled explosion. The wires are all fried, but everything on the outside is fine. For all intents and purposes, her computer is as good as a dummy model now.”

Shouting expletives, Tigerman was pretty much cowering before Jeff got a hold of himself again. “Okay, okay.” Taking a deep, measured inhale, he pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes in concentration. “What about the – the cloud, or whatever?” He asked, gesturing with a vague wave of his hand.

But Tigerman only shook his head. Apparently, whoever wiped away all traces of whatever Alona was working on was too skilled with computers that even Tigerman couldn’t do anything about it, especially because, “apart from helping her out with Pa– Jared’s case file, she was working all by herself with whatever she was looking into.”

The name was beginning to infuriate Jeff – not the person himself, but the connotation. Whatever Alona thought, Jared was innocent.

But if, by chance, someone somehow got wind of Alona’s – baseless, but still – suspicions, then out of the need to protect or lash out, someone…. someone close to Jared could have…

Even in his head, Jeff couldn’t actively come to terms with it, couldn’t fathom the prospect of saying out the words, as if refusing to think about it would make it any less real. But it was enough of a theory, literally half thought as it was, to have Jeff hitting the road, his destination furiously imprinted in his mind, but he didn’t need it to drive back to the one place he’d spent far too much time at recently. But not enough, not close enough, apparent.

“FBI, open the door!” Pounding on the front door, he didn’t stop until it opened, Ackles looking at him with a mix of alarm and caution.

“Uhm, hello?” Behind his legs, the two dogs Jeff had seen with Ackles on his occasional jogs came through, their barking almost swallowing Ackles’ words. “Can I help you, sir?”

Jeff smiled thinly, his eyes cold and unforgiving. “Jensen Ackles?” Ackles barely nodded, but Jeff was already going ahead without pause. “I’m Special Agent Detective Morgan,” he paused to briefly flash his badge at a confused Ackles, watching him go cross eyed. He was tucking the badge back into his pocket a second later, uncaring of the fact that Ackles most likely hadn’t gotten a proper view of the details on it. “I have a few questions for you. Mind if I come in?”

He looked unsure, glancing down at the dogs. A couple seconds passed before he eventually yielded, slowly pulling the door open, stretching out a leg to hold the dogs back. He needn’t have worried about them making a run for it, however, because when Jeff, taking advantage of the slight give by pushing his way in, the dogs immediately started circling him instead, growling menacingly. Jeff raised his eyebrows, appearing unimpressed, but his hand was twitching at his side, prepared to whip his gun out and start shooting if need be.

“Guard dogs?” He asked, glaring at Ackles. He didn’t meet his eyes, bending down and tugging the dogs back by their collars.

“I–” he let out a small, awkward laugh that quickly died out. “Uh, no. They're my fiancé’s – and now mine as well, I guess – pets. They’re usually more friendlier than this, I swear. Harley – Sadie! Heel!” The dogs abruptly sat on their haunches, but for mindless creatures, they were still glowering a little too shrewdly at Jeff.

He hummed, mostly to himself, as Ackles straightened, rubbing the back of his neck. “Uh, come on in,” Ackles said with faux cheeriness. Gesturing ahead of him, Ackles led him to the living room, the dogs following silently, flanking Ackles. “Can I get you anything to drink?” He offered with a hesitant smile. It faltered when Jeff didn’t return it.

“No, thanks. If you don’t mind taking a seat, we can begin right away.” With how he raised his eyebrows, his words could’ve been taken as a suggestion were it not for his tone.

His own eyebrows slightly furrowed, but Ackles acquiesced, sitting down on the couch adjacent to the armchair Jeff had taken. Interlacing his fingers and shoving his hands between his knees, they watched the dogs clambering up on the couch and settling on either side of Ackles, fixating their unblinking stares on Jeff, before Ackles tentatively broke the silence. “So… how can I help you, Detective Morgan?”

He leaned forward. “Where were you last night, Mr. Ackles?” He asked without berating around the bush.

Ackles blinked. “Uh. At home?”

“The entire night?”

“Yes? I stayed up kinda late with my fiancé, and then we were both out of it until he had to leave for work. I actually didn’t get up until a few hours after that.”

“And what time did your fiancé leave for work?”

“Around five… six AM. He had an early surgery appointment – he’s a general surgeon,” Ackles said easily.

Jeff frowned, not bothering to tone down the full fledged force of his scowl at Ackles. “And can your fiancé testify that you’ve been at home th _ e enti _ re night?” Jeff pressed.

“Leaning back a little, Ackles looked suspiciously confused at Jeff’s insistent line of questioning. “Yeah – what’s going on here, Detective Morgan?” He asked.

Bypassing the question entirely, Jeff smoothly switched tactics. “Where were you on the first of December, a couple of months ago?” Having side-tracked Ackles, the response was immediate and most likely honest, if Jeff chose to believe it as so.

“Home, probably,” Ackles said automatically, but then shook his head. “Can I know what’s going on here?”

Jeff leaned back in the armchair. “Funny you should ask,” he began without any traces of humor in his tone or face. Before he could go on, though, the sound of the front door opening had Ackles and the dogs both pulling up short and turning their heads in almost perfect synchronization just in time as none other than Jared came into view.

“Sweetheart, would you believe the patient didn’t even show–” Jared came to a halt as he took in Jeff’s presence. Right away, Jeff silently watched in awe as the easy, open expression slid off of Jared’s face, overtaken by hard lines as he glared at Jeff. “What the hell are you doing in our house?” He let his coat and briefcase drop uncaringly to the ground as he stormed over to them. Jeff rose to his feet, Ackles standing as well, albeit slower.

“I just came to ask a few questions,” Jeff tried to say placatingly.

Jared narrowed his eyes. “Do you have a warrant?” He shot at Jeff, tone as sharp as his stance.

“Well, no–”

“Then I want you out,  _ right now. _ ”

“Now, Jared,” he began to hastily try and explain when Jared drew dangerously closer, looking like he was seconds away from tossing Jeff out himself by his collar. “There’s no reason to–”

“Jay?” They both came to a standstill as Ackles stepped towards Jared, his eyes darting frantically between the two. “What the hell is going on here?”

Like the air rapidly deflating from a balloon, Jared’s posture relaxed as he angled his body so that he was facing Ackles rather than facing off against Jeff, but his hard gaze never left Jeff. “Nothing, sweetheart,” Jared said soothingly. “JD here is from the FBI, I’m sure he’s told you.” Ackles nodded, glancing again at Jeff. Wrapping an arm around Ackles’ waist, Jared pulled him closer in a clearly protective gesture.”Well, for some reason, he seems to think we might know something about a case he’s currently working on.”

Ackles tilted his head up to peer at Jared with a mix of suspicion and skepticism. “You guys know each other?”

“We’ve met,” Jared said smoothly.

Jeff snorted, and they both immediately turned back to him. Jared’s hard stare was a silent challenge, daring him to say anything. “You could say something like that,” Jeff said evasively.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Ackles looked back to Jared, but Jared was steadily glaring at Jeff.

“It means,” Jared said testily. “That we used to know each other. And now,  _ Detective Morgan  _ is trying to take advantage of our past acquaintanceship by intruding–”

“Hey,” Jeff barked sharply. “Our ‘acquaintanceship’ is why I’m questioning Ackles here instead of dragging him to the precinct!”

Dead silence descended upon the room. Ackles stilled in complete shock, but Jared.. Jared stood impossibly taller, looming over Jeff as his stance widened, practically suffocating the room with his presence. “Sweetheart, do you mind giving Detective Morgan and I a moment, please?”

Ackles frowned. “But–”

“Please, Jens,” Jared insisted, still not taking his eyes away from Jeff. Locked in an unwillingly heated battle of gazes, Jeff found himself unwittingly submitting, turning his head away.

Ackles didn’t look pleased with the situation at all, but acquiesced, albeit with a huff. Stepping back and away as Jared's arm fell from around his waist, he made his way to leave, pausing by the couch. “Harley, Sadie. Come.” Without any hesitation, the dogs jumped down from the couch, ambling beside Ackles as he left the room. The moment he was gone, Jeff would never admit to having been furiously startled when Jared drew near, their noses inches apart from each other.

“I thought I told you to leave Jensen out of this,” Jared said, voice dangerously low. “He has nothing to do with your murders.”

Refraining from glancing down because he knew he’d go cross-eyed if he did, Jeff kept his eyes on Jared’s, even if he was finding it difficult to maintain eye contact for some reason. “And I told you, Jared. Evidence is being provided otherwise.”

“To hell with your evidence!” Jared hissed, drawing back. Jeff surreptitiously took a furtive deep breath. “When do you even propose he committed a murder, hm?” Jared demanded. “Because for the past six months, he’s either been with me, or at home, writing!”

“That’s ot entirely true,” Jeff protested, because it really wasn’t. There were the visits to the park, and who knew what else that Jeff, infuriatingly enough, hadn’t found yet. One thing was for sure; Ackles was a socially recluse man, which deemed a fitting personality for a psychopathic serial killer.

“Do you even know anything about Jensen?” Jared exclaimed disbelievingly. “He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Jeff cleared his throat. Pulling at the edges of his coat in a sharp yank to straighten it, Jeff took a second to recalibrate, already planning out how the rest of this conversation would go, how he would direct it, to what he was all too well experienced in dealing with. “Flies and human beings are not the same, Jared,” he said sagely. “Just because you can’t stop seeing your fiancé through rose-tinted glasses, it doesn’t mean the truth will change,” he stated firmly. 

And then Jared was standing right in front of him again, crumbling whatever composure Jeff might have internally salvaged. “JD, listen to me,” his voice was quiet, but lacking the anger and danger from before. In its place emanated a steel promise as emphasized by his flashing eyes. “I swear to you, Jensen is not the person you’re looking for. Take my word, if nothing else, JD.”

Wrong-footed by the sheer self-assuredness in Jared’s tone, Jeff took a physical step back. Straightening his back, Jared somehow managed to disperse some of the terse air. “I’d appreciate it if you left now,” Jared said, his tone leaving no room for Jeff to even think of protesting. “Let me walk you out.” Extending an arm out in the way they’d entered, he was clearly waiting for Jeff to walk ahead, leaving him no choice but to do so. Jared was right behind him as they passed through the short hallway from the living room to the front door in silence, his formidable presence making the hair on the back of Jeff’s neck to stand. It reminded him, out of the blue, of almost similar moments from years ago, Jared right behind him, neither of them needing to say a word. Almost, because then, the air between them was charged with something drastically different from now.

An arm reached around Jeff, breaking him from his reverie as it unlocked the door and pulled it open. Wordlessly, Jeff stepped outside, then paused. Turning, he opened his mouth to try and say something; a ‘goodbye,’ an apology made sympathetic for Jared’s ignorance, a promise guaranteeing Jared that Jeff would show him the truth soon… regret conveyed over their history and where they stood now, literally and metaphorically. He failed to find the words for anything, however, so he shut his mouth. in the entire span of the second it took for Jeff’s racing mind to reach his current conclusion, Jared eyed him far too knowingly, and spoke instead.

“Keep what I said in mind, JD.” The door closed, quiet but firm, and a second later, Jeff heard the sound of the locks sliding into place.

oOo

“So… wanna explain what that was about?” Jensen’s voice and demeanor were all faux casual indifference as he didn’t even look up from giving Harley some belly rubs, but Jared would’ve had to have been a senseless idiot to not notice the underlying tension.

Letting go of Sadie’s rope, he quickly tossed a tennis ball down the hallway to distract her for a bit as he turned to Jensen. “I could ask you the same thing.”

With Harley getting up and chasing after the ball as well, there was nothing to stop Jensen’s scowl from being directly aimed at Jared. “You're the one who seems to know what’s going on here more than I do,” he crossed his arms. “So why don’t you fill me in, Jared.”

He couldn’t tell what stung more; the way his name sounded coming from Jensen’s mouth, or the hurt and fear unbidden in Jensen’s eyes. Abandoning his rather comfortable spot on the floor surrounded by dog toys, Jared crawled the couple of feet’s gap between them to sit on his knees in front of Jensen. He cradled his fiancé’s face as he sat more comfortably in a cross-legged position, mirroring Jensen’s pose. 

“JD and I used to sleep together,” Jared said softly without any preamble. “It was years ago. I didn’t feel anything for him – it was just two overworked guys blowing off some steam,” Jared explained. “JD… he ended up getting emotionally involved. That wasn’t why we were doing it though,” he stroked a thumb across Jensen’s cheek, chasing after the multitude of unending freckles there, still faintly visible despite the winter season thanks to their Florida trip a couple of months ago. “So we mutually decided to end things. I hadn’t seen JD since.”

Turning his gaze downwards, Jensen didn’t say anything at first. “Since?” He repeated, head raising. “Today’s the first time you’ve seen him in years?” He asked dubiously.

Jared shook his head. “He met me a while ago,” Jared said softly. “Wanted to talk to me about… you.”

Jensen’s face reflected his bewildered tone when he spoke. “What does he want with me?” Jensen asked softly, tone barely audible. “What did I do, for him to come all the way to my house? I’ve never even seen him before in my life!” He cried.

Coming to a split second’s decision on how much he would reveal, if only to alleviate Jensen for now, Jared carefully winced. “There was a murder last month,” he cautiously said. “Somewhere, somehow, your name must’ve come up. And now he’s convinced you did it.”

Jensen stared at Jared blankly. “That’s crazy,” he responded flatly.

Jared chuckled dryly. “That’s what I kinda said too,” he agreed.

“There’s no way I – why the hell would he  _ think _ that?” Jensen said, flabbergasted, but Jared could see the glimmer of distress still present in Jensen’s eyes, marginally increasing until Jared got a hold of it and worked on banishing it. “I mean, yeah, I write crimes and-and murder scenes,” Jensen stuttered, “but I don’t think that automatically equals me as an actual murderer! For fuck’s sake!” He closed his eyes, Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed. “That’s just how I cope,” he said, quieter. He aimed wide, guileless eyes when he opened them at Jared. “I-God knows, I want nothing to do with-with my own works, the stuff I’ve written myself.”

Jared took a deep breath, trying to remain outwardly unaffected, if only to help calm Jensen down. “I think,” he began warily, “he might be jealous.”

“Jealous,” Jensen repeated woodenly, before repeating it with more agitation. “Of what?”

“You,” Jared replied simply. Shutting his mouth, Jensen continued to stare at Jared uncomprehendingly. “JD… we spent a short time together, but I remember being able to tell how passionate he could get about things.” And Jared had taken advantage of the few occasions JD didn’t part from his phone, gleaning enough information from a one-sided conversation to continue eluding the FBI’s radar. “That’s why I broke things off when I found out how he felt about me. I couldn’t deal with him turning that passion, making it involve me when I felt nothing for him,” he said, truthfully enough. “If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say he probably still feels something.” He shrugged, fighting back a smirk at his own statement. “It would explain why he’s so fixated on you, my fiancé,” Jared’s eyes dropped along with his thumb, gently dragging across Jensen’s bottom lip, “instead of potentially stronger leads I’m sure there are, if JD took his head far enough out of his ass to see properly.”

Jensen tilted his head a little more into Jared’s palm, hesitancy making his voice waver when he spoke. “And what if he doesn’t?” Jensen swallowed. “What if–what if he manages to convince everyone that I’m responsible, though, even when I’m not?”

“Hey,” he pressed a hard kiss to Jensen’s lips, punishing him with a gentle nip for saying that before leaning back. “Like I told you, and like I keep telling him. That can’t happen, not when it’s not the truth. And if it’s not the truth, then they can’t find anything proclaiming you guilty,” he said adamantly. He could have gutted JD’s heart when the apprehension didn’t leave Jensen’s eyes. “Besides,” he continued, giving Jensen a small smile. “I promised I’d never let anything happen to you, didn't I?” He pressed their foreheads together, still holding onto Jensen’s gaze. “You think I’d let some idiot with a wrongly, jealousy-induced vendetta out against you to dare harm you after that?”

It took a second for the clouds to slowly begin dispersing from Jensen’s eyes. Another second for him to start shaking his head. One more, before the corner of Jensen’s lips risked quirking up. Jared considered it a step in the right direction of winning this entire thing. “Then just keep having faith in me, alright, sweetheart?” He drawled against Jensen’s mouth. “You’ve got me on your side, Jens, always and forever.”

It was Jensen who pushed forward then, connecting their lips vigorously. 

The dogs ended up having to entertain themselves in another room as Jared took Jensen, right then and there in the middle of their living room floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone send help there’s a bug in the bathroom I currently can’t reach to kill


	25. Chapter 25

Jeff closed the bedroom door behind him, careful not to disturb Hilarie. She hadn’t been feeling well for a while now, and though she tried hard to downplay things to avoid stressing him further, Jeff knew and felt guilty that he wasn’t giving her his proper attention. She’d just passed out after another bout of relentless vomiting, and after Jeff had aired out the bathroom and spritzed it with some air freshener, he double checked to make sure Hilarie was sound asleep before pulling out his phone as he left the bedroom.

Scrolling through his text messages, he quickly found the one from Tigerman. He shot off a text with a simple _thanks_ before dialing the number that Tigerman had procured and shared. Jeff didn’t have to wait long for the call to be answered, despite the late hour.

“This is Lauren Cohan.” Posh, confident, and without any traces of sleep. She sounded as assured as always. And Jeff didn’t dismiss letting her know that, letting out a wry chuckle as he did so.

“You sound the same as usual, Lauren,” he said lightly. “Haven’t let your job or reputation change you, hm?”

“I don’t see the need to ever change, so I never will,” Lauren shot back haughtily. “Who is this?” She asked dismissively.

Jeff made himself comfortable on the couch before responding. “Aw, you don’t remember me?” Jeff teased absently as he pulled his laptop over from the coffee table and onto his lap, booting it up. “I thought I was your favorite man in the suit!”

There was a short pause. “Jeffrey,” Lauren finally acknowledged, tone succinct. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Right to business. Knew there always had to be some sorta reason why I didn’t put you behind bars every chance I got.”

“Charmed,” Lauren said dryly.

“Listen.” Jeff leaned forward, placing his elbow on the corner of his laptop to keep it in place as he used the same hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, his other hand holding his phone to his ear. “I need you to get me all the details you can on Jensen Ross Ackles.”

“The crime novel author?” Lauren asked, sounding unfazed. Jeff grunted in agreement. “Anything specific you need?”

Unfortunately, Jeff was all too familiar with what those words meant, coming from her. “No, I don’t want anything forged or fake,” he sighed. “I just need deeper information on his background, for one. He’s got friends down in Texas that I need personal statements from. And everything you can get your hands on about him since the beginning of December,” he said, before pursing his lips. “Actually, you know what? Make that the last six months.”

“Is that all?” When Jeff confirmed, Lauren hummed. “Wonderful. Shall we talk payment, then?” 

Jeff shifted uncomfortably. “Give me what I need first, and then you’ll get your money.”

Lauren let out a single burst of laughter. “Oh, Jeffrey. You know I don’t go back on my word. Don’t you trust me?”

“Nope,” Jeff instantly said. “Not even if we wrote a contract in blood.”

Lauren sighed, mock hurt coming clearly through the speaker. “Oh, how you wound me so,” she said dramatically, yet with a note of dryness. “Anyway,” and just like that, she swiftly switched to professionalism easier than velcro. “I’ll have to do some research, which of course, you’ll be paying for immediately. Consider it the consultation fee. I’ll have a better estimate for you about how much the entire thing should cost by the morning. Capiche?”

Jeff sighed. He always felt dirty after dealing with Lauren, not unlike he’d interacted with the devil. It still didn’t stop him from making use of her resources, more than once, too. And just like all the previous times, desperate measures had Jeff signing at the bottom of the devil’s contract. “Yeah,” he said, resignedly. “I capiche.”

oOo

Jeff received the call the very next morning while waiting for the elevator. Stepping away from the throng of people, he elected to ignore the fact that the elevator had just arrived, heading for the secluded corner while keeping a wary eye on his surroundings. “That was fast,” he said, by means of greeting.

“I said I’d call with charges, not with the actual information you want,” Lauren retorted.

Jeff rolled his eyes. “Fine, yeah. What’re we looking at?” 

“Well, darling, so glad you asked. The fastest I can get information on the past six months of Mr. Ackles’ life is three to five business days. Extra cost applies.”

“...How much would it take on an average?”

“Oh, around a week or so, depending on how invested I am with the sordid details,” Lauren said surly. 

“Invest–I’m paying you!” Jeff hissed.

“Well, yes, but I do have a life, you realize,” Lauren rebuked. “Anyway. The statements from the location you’ve given me, those will take around one week minimum.”

“Is that the first class delivery or standard?” Jeff asked dryly. He nodded to Chau as he passed by who gave him a tight-lipped smile in return. Hands tucked into his pockets, Chau bounced on the halls of his feet as he waited for the elevator. The bags under his eyes were as prominent as ever. Jeff took another step back, consciously aware of both straining and unwittingly sensitive ears alike.

“That would be the fastest. My boys are good at what they do, and so long as payment is forthcoming, I see no reason to withhold information once I’ve gotten it. After all, I can trust a man with fine, upstanding characteristics such as yours, isn't that right, Jeffrey?” It could have been rhetorical were it not for the hint of a threat creeping into her tone, and it was that which pressed Jeff to push out a gruff, “of course.”

“Splendid. Now, the higher fee would be to cover the distance and keep my boys happy – you know how the business world operates, I’m sure – overall, the total package – and I’ll go over your consultation fee in a moment – should come up to be…” There was a pause as she presumably looked for the total, before she returned with a groundbreaking number. Jeff’s eyes widened out.

“Are you fucking playing with me right now?” He growled disbelievingly. Lauren was cutting him off before he could say anything further.

“That’s the harsh truth of the real world, Jeffrey,” Lauren stated forcefully. “If you want, I can deduct the speedy delivery portion, and you’ll receive it at all around the same time. But it’s a fixed price. Take it or leave it.”

Jeff turned his gaze heavenwards, praying for patience. “Fine,” he relented. “I’ll just pay you the exorbitant one.”

“Excellent!” Lauren declared. “Now, as for the consultation fee…”

Taking a deep breath, he decided it was safe enough to leave his corner with how Lauren was nattering away in his ear. Lending her half an ear with a prayer for patience, he waited for the elevators again, Chau having already gotten on and leaving the ground floor’s lobby minutes ago. 

Fortunately, Lauren settled on a price that wouldn’t completely empty out his savings before the elevator arrived, and it was with a relieved sigh that he allowed himself as he got into the elevator, ending the call with a particularly vicious jab. Ignoring the follow up text message that swiftly arrived, confirming the details of his and Lauren’s little deal, he pocketed his phone. Slouching, he tilted his head back against the elevator wall, resting his eyes until he arrived far too soon at his floor. With no small amounts of weariness, he left the elevator and entered the federal office.

Scanning the desks spread out in the main office area, he ignored the harsh twist of his heart as his eyes passed over Alona’s desk. The forensics agents had finished their work within the day and cleared out, leaving the place jarringly void of anything that could have once represented Alona’s presence. For now, they left the desk empty, but Jeff rued the day when someone would inevitably move in and take over what he’d always see as Alona’s spot.

Moving from the entrance, he looked around as he jogged to the conference room, where he found Heafey already set up, looking at something on her laptop. “Morning,” he announced, letting himself into the room. “Have you seen Tigerman?” 

Heafey shut her laptop at the sound of his voice, pushing it to the side and replacing it with a stack of papers. “Nope,” she said briskly, before arching up her eyebrows at him. “Any new developments?” She asked as he took a seat.

He sighed. “Working on a couple of possible clues, but it’s still processing,” he replied wearily. “What about you?”

Heafey hummed, looking down at her papers. “I talked to Osric Chau. He stopped by a while ago, before you came,” she looked at Jeff. “He mentioned Alona was looking into the Brendan Fletcher case, so I asked him if he could give me a copy of whatever he knew she had on it. He gave me a few extra pages,” she held up a file, “‘cause they finally found his head.”

Jeff frowned. “Was that the last of it?”

Heafey nodded. “We’ve got the entire body downstairs now,” she said, referring to the FBI’s morgue. “Coroner’s working on the final autopsy report. And also stitching the body back together to be sent to the mortician for the inevitable funeral.” She paused, continuing in a slower voice. “I, uh. I’m sorry about Alona,” Heafey said rather stiffly, not meeting Jeff’s eyes. “I knew you guys were close.”

Stiffening in his seat, Jeff took a sharp inhale. He only gave Heafey a single, jerky nod in response as she slid her eyes back to him, before he bypassed the topic entirely. Knowing Heafey as little as he did – she definitely wasn’t the social type, and anything at all about her life outside of the FBI remained a mystery no one bothered to solve – he knew she’d be just as fine as him to not have an uncomfortable heart-to-heart neither of them would be willing to participate in anyway. “So, what do you have about Fletcher?”

oOo

Jensen lifted his head, resting his chin on Jared’s chest to peer up at him. For all that he had his eyes closed, lazily resting under the unusual appearance of the sun, Jensen’s stare burned warmer than the sun currently tanning both of their shirtless torsos.

“Jay?” His voice was soft and inquisitive, as if to avoid disturbing the tenuous calm Jared had managed to bring. It wasn’t easy, getting Jensen to agree with getting out of the house, but the dogs were restless, and Jared had to swear he wouldn’t leave Jensen’s side once out – as opposed to leaving him at home by himself – before Jensen budged. Now, they were enjoying the surprising warmth for a winter season at the usual park, at a far enough corner that gave them privacy from the other park goers. While the dogs burnt off their excess energy, chasing each other around the humans, and the tree they’d settled up against.

“Jaaay.” Jensen’s voice was more insistent now, impatience wiping away the previous trepidation Jared had detected beneath. He hummed in response, proving he was still awake. “Do your parents… know about us?” The reappearing surge of hesitation had Jared partially opening an eye to squint at Jensen.

“They know I’m dating someone,” he stated. “I haven’t told them I proposed yet, though.” Jensen frowned, looking more torn up about this than Jared would have expected. “It’s not that I don’t want to,” Jared added, both eyelids opening completely as he figured where Jenesen’s mind was going. “I just figured I’d introduce you first, and then tell them directly.”

Jensen raised an eyebrow. “And when were you planning on doing that?” He asked suspiciously. Feeling more relaxed and with a little smirk revealing the rest of his emotions, Jared let his eyes close as he responded honestly and without any hesitation.

“Before we visit Mackenzie,” he said, smirk growing when Jensen pushed himself up in shock. “I’ve already got it all sorted out, so you don’t gotta worry about anything. It’ll be a joint trip.”

“What the hell?” Jensen exclaimed, sitting up now, staring down at Jared. “We’re going to go see Mack? When?”

Attracted by the noise, most likely, Harle and Sadie bounded over, collapsing on the grass in front of Jensen, resting their heads on his lap. Their tails brushed against Jared’s hip with every other lazy swish. “Soon,” Jared promised. “I’ll send you the itenary later.”

“Jared!” Relentless hands swatted at him, disturbingly insistent until Jared cocked his head, gazing at Jensen and giving him his full attention. “At least – god, tell me about your parents,” Jensen fretted. “Jesus, do they know we’re coming, or are you gonna spring this on them like you just did to me? Will they even be okay with me coming, and–”

“Jensen.” He pushed himself up, gathering Jensen’s face in his hands. “Yes. They know we’re coming. As far as they’re aware, I’m going to introduce the wonderful man who’s firmly captured their son’s heart, and they can’t wait to meet the man I’d trust unlike any other to guard it so well.” Jensen flushed, his head automatically tilting down at the praise, but Jared didn’t let him. “As for you getting to meet them – relax,” he ducked down to capture Jensen’s insistently evasive eyes. “They’re gonna love you, alright?”

“You can’t know that,” Jensen protested weakly. “Jay, I know nothing about them – what if I accidentally offend them or something? I mean, do they even know what I do – what I write? Hell, a fricking federal agent–”

“Don’t.” His eyes flared at the reminder, and Jared had to take a conscious breath to calm down. “They know you’re a writer, and guess what?” He flashed a grin. “Dad already knows your work, and he loves them. Don’t be surprised when that’s all he talks about at the dining table. As for everything else, Jensen, they’re my parents, Jens. If they’re anything like me,” _nothing like me, average, boring, plain and dull,_ “then I’m gonna have competition by the end of the week to remind you which Padalecki it is you really want.”

“Your sister?” Jensen retorted, seemingly without thinking. “Shocked at the impudence he so loved to see appearing out of nowhere, Jared let out a delightedly loud burst of laughter. The dogs perked up, clueless but eager to chip in with their own barking until finally, Jensen cracked a smile.

“Whoo!” Chuckles slowly tapering off, his grin was still wide as Jared looked his fiancé over. “Yeah, they’re gonna love you.”

Jensen ducked his head down, but he was peering back up before Jared reached over to rectify that. “Promise?” He asked bashfully.

Leaning over, Jared planted a firm one on Jensen’s lips first. “I promise.”

oOo

Tigerman wasn’t in for the rest of the week – according to Heafey. Jeff had returned to staking out Ackles’ house, but except for one Friday morning spent at a secluded area at La Tourette Park with Jared, he never left his house, even for his scheduled runs with the dogs. Jeff had spent the couple of hours they stayed there until the dogs wore themselves out and collapsed by their owners, uncaring of the slow, sensual make-out session the two men were involved in – meanwhile, Jeff felt like an uncomfortable voyeur for more reasons than one. He’d taken to skimming through a copy of Fletcher’s case file in his car during his stake outs, it was by far more preferable than sitting in complete boredom, or worse, watching Ackles be all lovey dovey when he did get out of the house, because he now never did so without being accompanied by Jared.

He was admittedly irked at Tigerman’s absence at the office. Just because the kid could work anywhere so long as he had a computer didn’t excuse him from actually showing up at work. Jeff had resolved to pester Tigerman’s cell from that night if he still didn’t deign to actually show his sorry mug at work.

Occasionally glancing at the front door in case it happened to open, Jeff flicked through the various reports, each detailing every incident a limb was found before the last one enabled an updated final one. 

Right off the bat, he’d known why Alona had been looking into the case personally. Comparing it with Andrew’s murders, and… Alona’s… it was clearly all executed by a professional. Someone who knew what they were doing with a blade, other tools and equipment, and technology. Sighing, Jeff closed his eyes, leaving it open to keep watching Ackles’ house through slotted eyes as he leaned his head back against the headrest. Unbidden, his mind flashed back to their first suspect. Chad Michael Murray… perfect build and experience with a blade, but then Jeff remembered his outdated computer and an honest-to-god fricking record book. It didn’t have to mean Chad was useless if a computer or, say, security feed, needed hacking into, but somehow, Jeff couldn’t imagine the guy clacking away at a keyboard like some sort of internet whiz. _Nevermind the fact that the timing doesn’t fit with the Dabbs’ time of murder,_ he thought. Still, maybe he’d look into the security footage around Murray’s hell the night Alona–

Jeff straightened, glaring at Ackles’ house. Their next suspect, with a perfectly valid persona to commit murders, except for every detail proclaiming otherwise. With a small groan, Jeff let his head thumb back against the headrest. He didn’t want to consider it, mostly because Ackles was their only possible lead… but sooner or later, and by that, he knew it meant _now,_ he knew he’d have to go back to square one, because the truth was plain and simple; things just weren’t adding up right.

Jeff rubbed a hand over his face. After so many weeks, with two extra murders to boot, it physically revolted him to fathom taking several steps back all the way to the beginning, but…

His phone vibrated across the leather of the passenger seat, and he blinked at it rather dumbly before his brain came back online. “This is Detective Morgan” he said, as soon as he accepted the unknown number’s call with nothing more than another sigh.

“JD?” It took him a second before he placed the voice to a name, and as he did, he wondered why he hadn’t’ had DJ’s number before now. It was shortly answered when DJ went on. “Man, I’d never thought I’d have to use your business card, but…” DJ let out an awkward sounding laugh; forced and not without a trace of humor in it. Jeff felt the beginnings of dread already burning through his stomach – at this rate, he wouldn’t be surprised, probably even lucky if he only came out of this with acidity. “I thought I should call you myself, after they let us know on the news who you’d be working with…”

“What is it?” Jeff broke in impatiently, not wanting to hear what DJ had to say, yet simultaneously intolerant of his dithering.

“We got called in for a possible suicide,” DJ said somberly. “Death by drowning, unless autopsy says otherwise if he’s sent to them, but JD…” Somehow, he already knew who it was before DJ finished speaking. He’d have given anything to be proven wrong, until DJ only confirmed his worst suspicion. “We just ID'd the body… it’s the guy who was assigned to your team, if the news ain’t wrong. But, uh, Gabriel Tigerman is dead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have seven scenes left to write before I’m done w this fic!! (Until then I’ll prob only be posting once a week so I don’t run out of content before I am done)


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y’all know what day it is!! *awkward silence* *crickets* Friday night, mandatory post! *more crickets*  
> Anyway. *clears throat* a thank you to the wonderful pineprin137 for editing! (Fair warning, because of technology stuff I don’t know what she’s gone through as I haven’t read through it - ik Ik I’m lazy what else is new — but I trust the contents to essentially be the same sooo I hope you enjoy it?)

“What the hell happened here...” Jeff sighed to himself.

DJ held his sheriff’s hat morosely in his hands. “ME’s saying it’s looking more and more like a drowning,” he said, “There haven’t been any indications of other possible means of death.” They watched in silence as Gabriel Tigerman’s waterlogged body was carried into an ambulance in a body bag. 

It was as surreal an experience as seeing Alona: the two were constantly moving with life, albeit in different mannerisms. To see them so still…

Jeff turned away as the ambulance doors closed, angling his body towards DJ as the ambulance started up behind him. 

“Any witnesses, surrounding footage…?”

DJ cocked his head to the side in a pointed gesture. “Just the early morning jogger who found your agent in the lake.” 

Ah. That would explain the traumatized jogger standing with a shock blanket draped over her shoulders while another policeman took her statement. 

“Uh… one of your agents-- Brunette, kinda looked like she wanted to eat me alive for disturbing her so early in the morning – and not in a fun way...?”

Jeff gave him a wry smile. “Yeah, that would be Agent Heafey,”  _ the only person remaining in my team…  _ “Don’t worry, it’s nothing personal. Jessica always looks like that.”

DJ shuddered. “Man, I dunno – I mean, I’ll take your word for it.” He shrugged. “Anyway, she’s already working on getting you the footage of the surrounding areas.”

Jeff paused, looked at DJ, considering. “Aren’t there cameras in the park – or around the lake? Hell, lifeguards?”

DJ clicked his tongue. “Park was closed when the, uh, murder must have occurred, so, no lifeguards. And it’s a public park,” he gestured helplessly, a  _ ‘what-can-you-do?’  _ expression adopted in his features. “There’s gonna be some blind spots, which is conveniently around where your guy was found. "Without Miss Beckham,” he continued, nodding at the jogger, “we wouldn’t have gotten the call when we did.”

Jeff repressed a groan, though it still reverberated around in his head.  _ Typical. _

oOo

“Did you get anything?” There was a note of desperation that slipped into Jeff's tone, which he wasn’t willing to address. Blessedly, apart from a strange look, Heafey didn’t remark on it either. It was the only hint of good news, however, she shook her head in response to his question.

“There’s some spotty footage of Gabriel exiting his apartment at a quarter to ten,” she said, placing a file in front of Jeff. “Goes into the Stop & Shop on Flatbush near ten. From there, he went to Wingstop near eleven, and half past, we lost sight of him as he walked to Prospect Park.”

Jeff frowned. “Why would he go to a park at midnight?” he mumbled. 

The file contained a map with the path Tigerman must’ve taken highlighted, and snapshots from security footage revealing Tigerman’s lazy gait even in the picture, casual and unhurried, carrying a plastic bag of groceries at his side.

“Why wouldn’t he?” 

Jeff looked up when Heafey crossed her arms. 

She looked remarkably bored. Impassive despite the murder of one of their fellow agents-- who they’d been working with for the past few months. 

“He’s Gabriel,” Heafey went on, “Everyone knows he’s always been weird.” 

She didn’t sound entirely uncaring… but Jeff still found that he wasn’t appreciating her dismissive tone.

He leaned back in his seat to regard her with cool eyes. “Considering it’s the place we found him  _ dead _ ,” Jeff stated, “I think we better question every one of his actions and choices, without blatantly disregarding it due to his unique personality.” It wasn’t how Jeff normally phrased Tigerman’s disposition himself, but it didn’t matter. 

Heafey blinked and did a double-take. The slight twitch of her eye was the only indication of a wince at the belated realization of her faux pas, chastised by Jeff's indirect yet cold confrontation.

“Right,” she said in a brisk tone. 

“I suppose we could interview Gabriel’s neighbors and get an idea of the usual pattern of his outings?” she tried. 

Jeff nodded. He knew unless he spelled it out for her, he wasn’t going to get an outright apology for her brusqueness. 

Heafey was the exact opposite of Tigerman in that way-- her stone-cold professionalism contrasted sharply with Tigerman, who had stumbled over his own feet with mumbled apologies.

Jeff blinked.  _ Stumbled. _

He swallowed. “You go ahead and do that,” he directed before picking up the file. “I’ve got a hunch I wanna check out.”

As he stood, gathering the file in his arms, Heafey gave him an expectant glance. “Wanna share or am I supposed to find out later?” she asked, looking vaguely unimpressed.

Jeff held back a sigh. One day, he was gonna have to let Heafey know how to interact with her superiors – and other humans. Even if he had to teach her himself. 

“There’s never been any signs of anyone around the murders.” He opened the file again, spreading out the map beside a photograph of the park and one where Tigerman’s body was found. “So either our perp is extremely skilled with ducking the cameras’ line of sight…”

Heafey’s eyebrows knit together as she drew closer to look at the photographs Jeff spread out. 

“Or they’re skilled at hacking into the cameras?” she asked pointedly.

Remembering the incident with their own footage, Jeff gave her a brief nod, before he went on. “Or... our perpetrator is finding other ways to access the crime scenes without the street cameras detecting a pattern.”

Her frown grew deeper, forehead wrinkling as she thought hard to connect the dots. 

Jeff saw the exact moment she came to the same conclusion he had. Her face cleared, the imagined light bulb above her head shining brightly. 

“The sewers?”

He nodded, pleased. “Yep. Only possible connection between Prospect Park, our building, and the Dabbs’ residence without appearing in any footage in the surrounding vicinities?” He jabbed a finger at the map. “The sewers.”

oOo

Apparently, Gabriel was just as weird at home as he was at work. From what Jessica garnered, the man was prone to days when he wouldn’t leave the confines of his studio flat –  _ explains the multiple days he wouldn’t show up at work  _ – and then "far too many nights where he wouldn’t return until the early hours of the morning", as one nosy neighbor had been all too happy to say once Jessica flashed her badge. 

So, according to Gabriel’s schedule, it wasn’t odd for him to be moseying around town when it was dark out. And as for the choice of location in particular… 

Jessica stared at the box on her table with disdain. It contained copies of several months’ worth of footage, all from one of the few cameras aimed towards the direction of the park’s entrance Gabriel may have gone through. Assuming, of course, that he was a creature of habit, and hadn’t switched up the routes of his nightly escapes.

“This is what my life has come to,” Jessica quietly bemoaned. She was at home, surrounded by work that was, for the first time ever, beginning to annoy her. 

A few months ago, she hadn’t minded her little office set up at home. She had enjoyed it, even, being constantly surrounded by the reminders of one menial task or another. But that was then. When her work had been monotonous and restricted to paperwork, with a rare chance of field work.

Now, she was involved in a case which, after the deaths of two agents, required her to pick up multiple roles to make up for the drop in investigators _. _ The loss of Tigerman and Tal meant she had to  _ think _ , and Jessica loathed allowing her mind to roam free.

She cast another glare at the box of security footage. 

On one hand, it would be a blissfully mind-numbing task to aimlessly scroll through hour-long videos to establish a possible pattern. Like she was in a damn middle school class, bird watching, or some other shit.

On the other, it wouldn’t get her anywhere, not anytime soon. 

With an infuriated sigh, she pushed herself up and made her way over to the bulletin board instead. 

There were already papers on The Dabbs’ and Fletcher’s murders pinned to it. Even more recently, the information surrounding Alona’s death, and now, Gabriel’s.

She tilted her head, frowning. An uncomfortable nagging tickled at her mind. 

Spinning, she tore out the month’s calendar from the yearly calendar on her desk, and after a second thought, January’s as well. 

Hastily sticking it to her board, she returned to her desk to rummage through it. “Pen, pen, where’s the godforsaken – oh, for fuck’s sake...” 

Pulling the pen from where she’d tucked it behind her ear, Jessica stood in front of the board and scanned a few papers before circling numbers in January and February. 

Standing back, her stomach dropped as she took in the pattern. 

“Aw, goddammit.” Pulling out her cell, she swiftly dialed a number. She sat down behind her desk while she waited for the person on the other end to pick up.

“This is Detective Morgan.” 

The gruff voice was sleep-addled, and Jessica raised her eyebrows in surprise. Either Morgan had given up on the Ackles front – which, about time – or he’d fallen asleep while stalking the man’s uneventful home. Jessica honestly couldn’t say which one it could have been.

“Sorry for the late call,” she said cautiously, “I hope I didn’t disturb anything.” She rolled her eyes. 

Contrary to popular belief, she knew how to play nice. She just never saw a reason to. But after Morgan’s earlier reaction to her usual nonchalance while discussing Gabriel’s murder, Jessica knew she’d need to tread carefully and at least pretend she cared.

Not that she didn’t. 

It was just that everyone meets with death sooner or later. A fact she was far too familiar with.

“No.” 

Jeff's tone still suggested he wasn’t exactly happy to talk. But be it due to the time or person, Jessica didn’t bother to enquire. 

“What is it?”

She kept things short. “Fletcher went missing on the twenty-eighth,” she said, “Nevermind the dates he was found. Alona was murdered on the fourth. Gabriel-- the eleventh.”

There was a pause as Morgan parsed through her words. “What’re you saying?” he finally asked.

Taking a deep breath, Jessica leaned back in her chair. 

“Those dates were all Tuesdays,” she explained, “And while I wouldn’t say the pattern is going to continue... If it does–”

“There’s gonna be another hit on the eighteenth,” Morgan finished. 

Jessica heard some shuffling while she patiently waited. 

_ Maybe _ , she mused absently,  _ the man had decided to go home-- If at least for the night.  _

_ “Are _ you saying there's a possibility of a murder on the eighteenth?” Morgan asked, his voice low and hushed.

“I don’t know,” Jessica calmly replied. “What are you thinking?” 

She pried. Because whatever Morgan might say or think, she knew what was going on here, at least to a certain extent. 

If the pattern followed- which she was sure that it would- Jessica was at risk to be the next victim.

But how much was Morgan going to be willing to share with her, especially considering it was  _ her _ life at stake?

For a while, there was nothing but silence, Jessica all too willing to wait him out. Then, there was the telltale sound of a resigned sigh. 

“I’m sure you figured it out,” Morgan said wearily. “Do I need to tell you to be careful?”

It was rhetorical, but Jessica answered anyway. 

“No.” She stretched out her neck, closed her eyes. “But if there’s anything else you know, it definitely wouldn’t hurt to share,” she prodded.

Morgan grumbled, the audio call’s static rendering his words unclear. “Honestly, I got nothing,” he said, and he sounded stumped enough for Jessica to believe him. “Whoever it is… Right now, I’ve just got a list of people it isn’t, but nothing on who it could be. 

"One thing’s for sure, though-” 

The sound of springs creaking under added weight told Jessica that he'd sat down. So, probably at home then. 

“--Whoever they are, they’re trying to make a point.”

She raised an eyebrow. “...A point? What point?”

There was another pause before Morgan responded. “I don’t know.” 

This time, Jessica wasn’t sure she believed him, however, she let it go for the time being. 

Straightening up, she gave a decisive nod even though Morgan couldn't see her. “Alright, then,” she announced. “In that case, I’ll start preparing.”

"Prepar–prepare how??” Morgan exclaimed, sounding dumbfounded. “Your final will?”

Jessica rolled her eyes, only just biting her tongue before a scathingly sarcastic remark could slip free. “No...” she said slowly. “I’m gonna put up cameras around my house. And maybe borrow a body cam, depending on how paranoid I’m feeling.”

“That… wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Morgan admitted. “But our killer hacked into the Bureau’s security-- You really think any other cameras are gonna be foolproof?”

No, she didn’t, but Jessica wasn’t going to tell Morgan that. Not unless they could come up with a better plan. 

If they were going to, it’d better happen sometime soon. 

“Can’t hurt to try,” she responded instead. 

Morgan still didn’t sound too happy – then again, when did he ever? – but they let the plan be for now. 

After cutting the call, she tossed her phone onto the desk and silently stared at the sole photograph. The only piece of decoration amongst the mess.

“I better not join you anytime soon,” she finally said into the silence. “Or I’m bringing down hell on everyone’s ass, even if I gotta haunt them to do it.”

oOo

_ Tom knew he should have called Greg before running off without an explanation, but he figured the whole situation wasn’t just time sensitive. _

_ “Hush, it’s okay, kid, we’re gonna get you out of here.”  _

_ The girl- _

_ Christ, she didn’t look older than twelve or thirteen, but Tom knew she was fifteen.  _

_ \--flinched, huddling closer to the wall and away from his outstretched hand.  _

_ “It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you!” He rushed to reassure her, but she looked no less frightened.  _

_ “Come on, your aunt and uncle are waiting for you,” Tom desperately tried, conscious of every second they stayed in the basement. “Your aunt, Cathy, and–” _

_ “U-Uncle R-Roy?” _

_ If possible, the girl only paled further when Tom nodded, and he watched in confused horror as tears began to rapidly stream down her grime-covered face. They left behind pale streaks of white skin. _

_ ”No, no, no!” she cried out, shocking Tom with her very vocal protest. “P-Please, don’t take me back!”  _

_ “Sh, sh!” He dared to scoot forward on his knees, stopping when she started to panic at his approach. “Maggie, it’s all gonna be fine, just come with me and I promise we’ll get you safe. You won’t be harmed once we get out of here.” _

_ “Famous last words.” _

_ Tom froze, hardly daring to breathe as he turned around to come face-to-face with the man Greg would have given anything to get his hands on.  _

_ “Bruce Landon,” he said stiffly.  _

_ Tom subtly tried to shift his body, angling himself to ensure Maggie was firmly shielded from the gun. _

_ The man responsible for terrorizing the city with his few, yet heinously grisly, murders peeled his lips back, revealing shockingly white teeth in a nauseating imitation of a sickly, sweet smile.  _

_ “Forgive me,” he said. “You know my name, and I can’t even extend the same courtesy!” _

_ Discreetly, Tom kept his eyes on the gun. It was ever so slightly wavering, almost inscrutable, but still there.  _

_ “Well, if you don’t mind hopping into the back of my truck, then I’ll be happy to introduce myself.” _

_ Bruce threw his head back in laughter. The gun didn’t stray far from its target, though, so Tom held himself back.  _

_ “You crack a good joke,” Bruce finally said. _

_ “It wasn’t a joke,” Tom said, and promptly winced at the atypical moment of not choosing tact making an appearance  _ **_now,_ ** _ of all times.  _

_ The humor swiftly slipped from Bruce’s face. _

_ “You’re wrong, you know,” he said somberly. The nose of the gun dipped an inch. “I’m not the bad guy.” _

_ Tom raised his eyebrows at that. “Oh, yeah? Wanna tell that to Martin Lewis? Velma Harrison? William Turner? Hell, what about Chris Smith?” He cocked his head to the side, gesturing at Maggie when he mentioned her father’s name, without allowing her to be bared to the gun. “What about those kids? Cops got them all to safety by now.” He looked at Bruce pointedly.  _

_ “In fact, they should be showing up here any moment…”  _

_ Bruce's eyes drifted over Tom’s shoulder to where Maggie was. The corners of his lips turned down into a frown.  _

_ “They only had what was coming,” he murmured quietly. It was as if the man wasn’t even aware he was talking aloud. “Justice… I just had to hide the kids’ hard work…”  _

_ Tom’s insides went cold. “What?” _

_ Bruce’s eyes refocused on Tom, but he couldn’t say anything more before the cops finally burst into the basement. They crowded the walls, their eyes on the sole figure in the middle.  _

_ Bruce clutched the gun with both of his hands, a sheen of sweat breaking out on his forehead.  _

_ Taking advantage of the commotion, Tom whipped out his own gun and trained it on Bruce as Greg casually strode in, looking entirely pleased with a set of handcuffs dangling from his upheld pointer finger. Tom noticed the other hand was on the gun holster at Greg’s hip, those keen eyes immediately taking in the situation. _

_ “Game’s over, Landon,” Greg announced.  _

_ Tom couldn’t blame his sense of triumph after the cat-and-mouse chase Bruce had had them unwillingly playing.  _

_ “Best come with us, nice and easy.” _

_ Something indecipherable flashed in Bruce’s eyes before a slow smile stretched out his thin lips and dark resignation showed in his stance.  _

_ “That may be-” he said, his eyes shifting back to Maggie, still protected by Tom.  _

_ “--But revolutions don’t start with ‘nice and easy.’”  _

_ Before they knew it, Bruce had the gun raised upwards, head falling back as he pressed the muzzle to the underside of his chin. _

_ “No!” _

_ Something knocked into Tom from behind, startled, his hand slipped.  _

_ A thud, and all hell broke loose. Yells, scuffles, shouts... but Tom’s eyes were reserved for the figure on the ground alone. _

_ He fell to his knees as blood began to pool around Maggie’s unmoving body.  _

_ Feeling detached from his own body, Tom looked down, hand lifting by a margin so he could see his gun. His own gun… _

Blinking, Jensen pushed his laptop away. Closing his eyes, he rubbed at them with the back of his fists.

“Zone kicked you out?” The sound of his fiancé’s voice had Jensen lifting his head, staring at Jared in confusion as he tried to reorient himself.

“Something like that,” he said finally. His voice was rusty from disuse. 

He’d gotten sucked in several scenes ago and, overtaken by the demanding need to get the words out, he hadn’t taken a single break since he started… 

“What time is it?” he asked, still feeling too jarred and groggy to think of checking the clock at the corner of the computer screen.

Jared shifted, looking over his shoulder at the clock mounted on the wall in the living room. “Quarter past nine.”

He straightened from where he’d been leaning against the doorway leading into the kitchen, and joined Jensen at the small table. 

He hadn’t expected to work for so long…

“You’ve been at it for the past five – almost six hours,” Jared said softly. “Think you’re good for the day?”

Jensen was vaguely aware of how he was gaping at Jared like an owl, but he couldn’t help it. His brain well and truly felt like mush. 

Jared must’ve sensed something deeper was amiss, because his eyebrows furrowed as he leaned closer to place a hand on Jensen’s arm. 

“Hey,” Jared's voice went husky with concern, “Is everything good?"

"Characters giving you trouble?” he asked, clearly only half-jokingly.

Jensen nodded. Then shook his head. He shrugged, his face scrunching up at himself before he slumped with his head dropped into his hands and his elbows resting on his lap. He heard Jared get out of his chair.

His fiance knelt on the ground beside him, pulling his chair away from the table so Jensen faced him. 

Unconsciously, Jensen's legs parted as his hands fell to his lap. With his head still bowed, Jared took advantage of the small extension of space and shuffled forward to peer up at him. 

“What’s wrong?”

Jensen shook his head again. “Nothing... I don’t know….It’s just-” He looked at his laptop. 

“--I can’t tell you if I planned it or not… It slipped out and I’m not surprised, but now…”

“Now?”

“I’m not sure I know how I feel. Or  _ what _ to feel.”

Jared inhaled deeply, looking Jensen over as he regarded him thoughtfully. “Maybe you should sleep on it?” he suggested. 

Jensen nodded again, giving a grateful smile despite his internal conflict. It had worn him down, which was probably why he all too willingly acquiesced. 

Jared pulled back, allowing him to stumble out of his chair. 

He clumsily started towards bed, leaving his usually- more-valued laptop abandoned behind him. Not minding the fact that he was pretty much leaving it free for Jared to do as he wished. 

Jensen's trust in Jared was so deeply ingrained that any thought of rectifying the situation didn’t even occur in his mind. He was troubled enough with actual pressing concerns.

Too far gone into his mind and the bothersome thoughts, Jensen stifled a yawn as he climbed the stairs, not noticing Jared frown at his laptop before giving in and pulling it towards himself as he began to read.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit. This is it you guys.. this is the end of part 2.. I’m torn between screaming cuz we’re so close to the end from a readers perspective, but also screaming from the writers perspective because I really need to hurry up and finish writing those last seven scenes (yes I counted)  
> In other news, once again, a thank you to pinepin137 and elliesamanddeangirl, the former for editing and the latter for commenting ❤️

Jessica had spent her weekend looking into the city’s sewage system while the security feed from Gabriel’s apartment played in the background. It wasn’t like she'd had anything better to do. 

Yet despite the constant loop of footage, her lack of complete focus on it meant she didn’t really get anything on that front. 

The city’s blueprint of the sewage system, meanwhile, had proven a little _too_ rewarding.

“The network spans the entire city. It’s this whole... underground world. 

"Our killer can access it from anywhere and it’ll lead them anywhere-- Including residential streets, downtown, and yes, parks.”

Morgan hummed, then asked, “Do we have any footage surrounding the possible access points? Would be hard to miss a full-fledged human getting in or out of a sewer grate.”

Jessica glared at the city map currently taking up a significant amount of space on one of the walls in her study. “I’m still trying to work out the bugs, but ideally, we should have the software up and running by the end of this weekend. It’ll trace and send an alert after detecting any human activity around the sewers.”

“The end of this weekend?” Morgan asked, sounding dubious. “Do you need me to send someone – Try to speed things up?”

Jessica glanced at her phone with utter skepticism. 

Atop her desk, she’d turned the speakerphone on when her hands got a little too full with the papers she’d been skimming whilst updating Morgan on the more important details. “Thanks, but it wouldn’t really make a difference,” she said. It was a true enough statement, just not as important as how she’d much rather work alone, as she always had. 

“The program’s just gotta process the commands. Can’t speed that up. It’s got a large bundle of information to sift through.”

“If you’re sure…”

“I am.”

Morgan still sounded doubtful, but he let the topic rest. 

“I’ll see you on Monday, then, with a full update on _everything_ ,” he stressed. 

Jessica rolled her eyes. 

The camaraderie was nice, but she knew it wouldn’t last long, not with their antisocial personalities that clashed brilliantly despite, for all intents and purposes, being similar in certain aspects.

“Of course.” 

Ending the phone call, Jessica resumed glaring at the multitude of files surrounding her, before she lifted her gaze to where she’d set up the new camera feed. 

Screw it. 

She needed a change of pace, and at least this way, she’d still be productive. Nevermind that she would be specifically focused on her self-interest. 

But how could anyone blame her, really? 

oOo

The cameras didn’t take long to check, but it left Jessica feeling rejuvenated enough to return to her bulletin board. It was too late in the day for her to start a project anew, so she intended to revise the information she had accumulated before calling it a day. 

Jotting down a few key points on a sticky note, she took it with her as she returned to her desk. 

There was a possible connection that the murderer was acquainted on some level to all the victims. 

She briefly considered Murray. Visualizing and mulling over his profile in her mind, she ended up writing his name on the sidelines before moving on. 

There was Ackles, but Jessica was dead sure he didn’t fit into any of this.

_Who else…_

Absently, she pulled out the notepad she’d written down her notes in while interviewing Gabriel’s fellow tenants. 

While they’d told her enough about the man, they hadn’t exactly done so in a way that identicated he spent time with anyone suspect. Not unusual, for a loner like Gabriel, but surely Alona, and the Dabbs, had interacted with more people, whether it was on a regular basis or not.

Jessica was surprised when she suddenly let out a yawn. She glanced at the clock. It wasn’t too late, but the pang in her stomach was an almost painful reminder to tend to her most basic of needs. 

Sighing, she closed her notepad and dropped it atop everything else on her desk before rising. 

When she looked at the photograph, an unbidden smile graced her lips at the sight of her two lovers. They never failed to elicit a soft smile from her. 

“I’ve got another day, right?” 

She stayed silent, as if waiting for a response – chastising herself for her negativity, or an equally dark joke. Inevitably, she was only met with silence, just like every other time she foolishly spoke aloud. Some part of her still stupidly clung to hope, but just like every other time, barely a minute passed before she was returned to cruel reality. 

She only allowed herself one disappointed sigh before the walls descended around her once again, blocking off the pointless attempts of emotion trying to crawl back in. 

Hitting the lights as she exited her study, Jessica didn’t look behind her as the room plunged into darkness. 

It would be the same the following day and every day after that, for as long as she lived.

oOo

The next day was mostly spent in silence, but there was a tense atmosphere in the office. Dread and anticipation turned their stomachs sour. 

Morgan’s cup of coffee was sitting untouched, replaced by a flask he didn’t even try to conceal.

For her part, Jessica managed to immerse herself in her work. By noon, she’d managed to compile a list of people to interrogate. The Dabbs and Alona had no mutual acquaintances, but she’d be damned if not one person from the extensive list she’d drafted led them somewhere. 

By late afternoon, however, Morgan had snapped.

“Are you sure you don’t want someone with you?” 

Jessica raised her eyebrows, mildly impressed by how long he’d managed to hold back until the question registered in her mind. 

She visualized some random stranger going around her home, quietly judging without any knowledge of her or her life. Or worse, moving something with the intention of cleaning or some other bullshit. All in good will, unaware that she’d let things be on purpose. 

Since…

She held herself back from outwardly recoiling in disgust and anger _._

 _Besides,_ she told herself, _the heavy layer of dust that had never bothered her before might even come in handy tonight._

“No. Thank you, though,” she tacked on. 

Morgan’s unwavering stance made her sigh, and she forced herself to give him something. 

“I don’t trust the idea of anyone in my house.”

“Then we’ll have someone stationed right outside.”

“And do you think that’ll really help?” She replied flatly. 

Morgan fell silent, pondering.

“You could camp out somewhere else for the night…”

Jessica shook her head. “The killer broke into the FBI,” she reminded him.

“He – She- Whoever – didn’t break in,” Morgan pointed out. “Gabriel left the doors unlocked. And the rest of the place was empty.” 

He leaned forward with widened eyes, and it startled Jessica to see such a soft expression. 

“At least stay somewhere populated," he implored, throwing her further. "Even for just the night. I’m not saying we gotta take you to a warehouse, but somewhere with others we can trust.” 

Jessica snorted. “Why, are you offering me your place for the night?” 

She blanched when she realized Morgan looked like he was actually considering it. 

“No!” She straightened up in her chair. “Look, I appreciate it, I really do. But I've got my house all set up. If anyone gets in that isn’t me, I’ve set up my alarm system, so that you’ll get a text.” She pursed her lips. “And I’ve still got the cameras-- They’ll be recording the entire night.”

“I still don’t like it,” Morgan said, crossing his arms. “Technology’s got nothing on our guy. I’d much rather have you somewhere else.” He clearly wasn't going to let up on trying to convince her.

Jessica gave him a stiff smile and a shrug, but didn’t say anything else, wisely choosing not to voice her thoughts.

_If I’m gonna bite it, I’m doing it where I want to._

_And where I want to is the place that reminds me of the last time I felt like a decent human._

_So, no, Morgan._

She watched as he gave up, probably only for the time being, and sullenly returned to sipping from his flask.

_And I ain’t budging from my one last wish._

oOo

She wasn’t exactly sure how Morgan had wrangled his way into accompanying her home.

“At least let me sit outside,” he'd bargained, “And if anything goes wrong – _anything_ – just text me. Or call,” he'd added.

Jessica had rolled her eyes, but kept quiet. She wasn’t going to say anything, lest Morgan find a way to invite himself in next. 

Which led to her currently glaring out her front window, where Morgan’s parked car was blatantly visible across the street. 

Shaking her head, Jessica let the curtain fall back into place before heading into her study. 

Turning on the lights, force of habit had her closing the door before she turned around…

And promptly froze.

“Ah, about time.” 

The man smiled at her pleasantly, as if he hadn't just been caught casually lounging behind the desk of a federal agent, in her house.

Jessica's hand slowly inched to her pocket, but the man saw it and frowned at her hand. She instantly stilled.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said, “I mean, you could. Wouldn’t make a difference for you, anyhow.” He shrugged. “Would just give me one more thing to clean up though, to be honest.”

“Who are you?” Jessica demanded, leaning against the door.

The man’s eyes widened. “You really don’t know?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said sardonically, "We haven’t been given photographs of all POIs along with the briefing." 

He chuckled, seemingly not at all taken aback by her impudence. “Wow. I thought all of you knew who I am. The other two did,” he admitted casually.

“It was you,” Jessica only confirmed, mouth pulling downwards, as if she hadn’t figured it out already. “You’re the one who’s been killing everyone. The Dabbs. My teammates. Brendan Fletcher.”

The man smiled, flashing white teeth. “Guilty. Name’s Jared by the way. Jared Padalecki.”

Jessica’s eyes widened when she realized, “You’re Ackles’ fiancé!--And Morgan’s ex...”

Jared chuckled. “Yup. Though, I didn’t realize JD’s been advertising that last bit.”

“He isn’t,” Jessica allowed. Her hand inched towards her pocket again, her phone centimeters away… “I overheard him talking with Alona.”

“Ah, yes, the blonde,” Jared recalled. “Feisty, that one. I could tell. Had a gun trained on me remarkably quickly once she recognized me.” He tilted his head. “Unlike you… Lemme guess, you’re more the ‘plan it out’ type, aren’t you?”

Jessica narrowed her eyes. “Would it make a difference?” she challenged. “I highly doubt you’d even let me pull out my gun.”

Jared hummed. “You could try,” he repeated, standing. 

Her hand froze as her head tipped back, thudding against the door as he loomed over her, revealing his large stature as he drew unnecessarily closer.

“Stay back!” 

She tried to command him, but it was in vain. Her hand shot to her gun holster, other hand no longer bothering to be subtle as she finally pulled out her phone. 

Jared stopped, an amused cant to his lips. “You could try using those if you think it’ll help,” he said, “But I’ll let you know it won’t be of any use.”

Jessica gave him a deadpan look. “A gun and reinforcement won’t help me?” 

She had dared to mock him, but he only smirked.

“The gun… Maybe. The phone?” He took another step forward now only an arm’s length away. 

“That’s definitely gonna be a dead end.”

“What makes you so sure?” she questioned, even as she absently thumbed it on at her side. His eyes instantly slid to the action as if drawn by a magnet.

“Because of this.” 

Jared pulled a small device out of his pocket and instantly, Jessica's phone dropped to the ground in favor of the gun she aimed at him, finger ready to squeeze the trigger. 

He paused to give her a condescending smirk, as if the gun was a toy for all that it bothered him. 

He held the device by his head and shook it, drawing her attention. 

“Signal jammer,” he explained shortly. “Any calls you wanna make, or bluetooth devices operating wirelessly...” 

His knowing smirk sent a sudden, foreboding chill down Jessica's spine. “Won’t work as long as this is on.” 

He shook the small black box again, Jessica’s eyes pinned to it while her stomach sank in realization.

She forced herself to meet his humored stare without giving away the resigned dread coiling in her gut. 

“Signal jammer can’t do anything against a gun.” She tried for a cocky tone, adjusting her stance against the door when he pocketed the device with a sigh.

“See, that’s the thing,” he glanced at the gun pointed at his chest. “I don’t _need_ a signal jammer for that.” 

He lunged forward, snakelike, and Jessica gasped as he easily snatched the gun from her grasp. Within seconds, the bullets in the magazine clattered uselessly to the ground as he pulled it out and emptied it. 

She stared in shock as he tucked away the gun and magazine in his back pockets, leaving her defenseless. 

“Proximity and skill does the job just fine,” Jared explained.

Jessica slumped, surrendering without any further opposition. 

“So, what now?” she asked wearily, lifting her gaze from where he'd stashed her gun, out of sight and out of reach. 

“You gonna kill me?”

“No,” he scoffed, “so you can relax.” 

She could have rolled her eyes, but she was too busy watching him with laser sharp focus as he extended an arm. 

Her muscles coiled tight, ready to lash out... but he only laid it on her shoulder. Gently guiding her away from the door, he said, “I’m not going to do anything to you.”

She arched an eyebrow, and even through her dry throat, she forced herself to respond, to sound normal and unaffected as he pushed against her shoulders to make her take the seat he’d previously occupied. “Am I really supposed to believe that?”

He stood in front of her, looming even higher now that she was sitting down. 

His face abruptly bereft of all emotion, Jessica got a glimpse of the true, coldhearted murderer who wore his endearingly charming behavior as a mask. 

“You should,” Jared said softly. “Because _I’m_ not going to do anything.” 

Jessica didn’t miss the soft emphasis. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

Her heart rate picked up, hands tensing their grip on the armrests of her chair as he reached a hand out. 

He traced a delicate finger over the edge of her invaluable photograph and Jessica bit her tongue before she could harshly tell him to get his hands off of it. 

Instead of responding to her question, he picked up the photograph, twiddling around with it. 

“It was a hate crime, wasn’t it?” he said, still in that soft tone. 

She stopped breathing. 

Unperturbed, he went on.

“Christian and Mishael,” he stated, ignoring how she jolted at the sound of their names. “Alias Portia…” he continued. 

“The Orlando shooting, right?” He suddenly said in a louder voice. His tone was casual, as if he was just inquiring about the weather instead of the loves of Jessica's life. 

Her heart jackrabbitted and her tongue was tied, rendering her speechless.

Not that Jared seemed to be bothered by her lack of contribution. He continued. 

“You were on call that night,” he said, like he was reminiscing for her. 

And Jessica… 

Jessica was frozen stiff in her chair, unable to do anything while he stroked a delicate finger over the framework, trying to fight away the memories of bright lights, screams, sobs, and mind numbing terror as she wove through the bodies, praying to be proven wrong…

Something popped, and she struggled to swim back to reality. She watched Jared pull free a black button from the intricate framework. 

He glanced at her, seemingly aware that she’d blanked out for the past few seconds. “This one’s mine, by the way,” he explained, holding up the button. 

It took her an embarrassingly long moment to recognize what it was. 

“H-how--” She cleared her throat, for all the good that did. Her voice was no less raspier when she continued, “How did that get here?”

Jared huffed in amusement. “Oh, please.” 

He pocketed the tiny camera as well, before putting the frame back on her desk. 

“You think this is the first time I’ve dropped by?” 

Shaking his head, he looked almost disappointed as he walked around the desk until he was opposite her. “Now, where was I? Oh, yes.” His smile turned sinister as he directed the full force of it onto Jessica. 

The shiver that crawled up her spine took longer to be abated. 

“Why don’t I enlighten you on why you’re going to be inclined on making this your last night alive?”

oOo

Jeff startled awake, promptly cursing a blue streak when he realized he’d been sleeping – he _knew_ he should’ve switched from alcohol to caffeine. 

He scrambled for his cell phone. No missed calls or texts, but it was seven in the morning. He didn’t stop to consider that Jessica could still be in bed, getting ready, maybe even about to step out at any moment now…

Jeff lunged out of his car, leaving the door open as he scrambled across the lawn. He practically fell against the door. 

“Heafey? Heafey!”

He knew he was making too much of a racket for seven AM in a suburban neighborhood, but that couldn’t have been further from his mind. He reared back only to throw his entire weight against the door, shouting for his agent all the while.

It only took two tries before the door tellingly creaked under Jeff's barrage, and by the third, he'd fallen in amongst the broken wood and splintery bits, struggling to righten himself before he met the ground. 

“Heafey!”

The living room was empty. As was the kitchen and dining area. 

Screaming her name to break the eerie silence, Jeff made his way down the hall. 

“Heafey? C’mon, answer me, goddammit!” 

He shoved the first door he came across open, already striding past, before he came to a halt on shaky feet. 

A hand flailed out to catch against the wall. Holding himself up with a sense of desperation, Jeff backtracked.

He blanched when he stood in the doorway of the room, Heafey’s body gently swaying in the center of it, the rope around her neck attached to the ceiling. 

“No…” Jeff crashed to his knees.

oOo

“I’m guessing it worked?”

“Mm. Precisely what I wanted, if actually a little above and beyond. I don’t think any of the electronics in her house were working while it was on.”

“You better hope not, else it might show up on her electric bill or something.”

Jared rolled his eyes while lifting his foot and curling his lip in disgust as a rat scuttled past. 

“Please. I trust Lindberg.”

“Excuse me!?” 

Chad’s outraged squawk had Jared pulling the phone away from his ear with a wince. 

“ _I’m_ the one who got it done. Besides!” His friend exclaimed. “I deserve a bonus for putting up with him…. Can’t believe I’m the one complaining about this, but is the guy ever sober?”

“During his day job, yes,” Jared said, as easily as he took a turn in the darkness. “His off-the-record works are more easily dealt with when he’s high and drunk. And I wasn’t aware you were being paid in the first place.” 

He stopped in front of the familiar set of metal doors. Instead of going through them, however, Jared balanced the phone between his ear and shoulder so he could reach up with both arms.

“Clearly, I’m not being paid enough,” Chad emphasized, disgruntled. “Whatever. Anyway-- Is it done?”

After heaving himself up, Jared pushed the sewer grate back in place while leaning against the dumpster that hid him from the street’s surveillance cameras' sight. 

“Yep. Heading to Jensen’s now.”

“Got it,” came Chad’s terse reply. “Stay safe.”

Disconnecting the call, Jared put his phone back in his pocket, exchanging it for the signal jammer. 

Senses on alert, he clicked the button before confidently rising and striding away from the abandoned alley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On the topic of comments... can someone explain why I only got one for the previous chapter? I mean, lots of love for Ellie (can I call you Ellie for short?) but where did the rest of y’all go?? I know the world is crazy but cmon help me ignore the craziness that August decided to go out with a bang for. Chadwick, and then the fucking promo I AM NOT PREPARED FOR ALL THE SUBTLE CONFIRMATIONS THAT CAS IS GONNA DIE BY EPISODE EIGHTEEN IM FUCKING NOT OKAY


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok 1) the amount of comments I got for the last chapter was just.. so sweet. Thank you guys for letting me know how much this fic is loved, I swear I’m not trying to guilt trip or thirst for attention, it’s just hella good to know what y’all think — and that y’all are out there!  
> And on that topic, it’s okay if a few of y’all aren’t doing so good! Makes total sense w the radio silence, and hey, if you ever needa talk, feel free to find me on tumblr, cuz I’m willing to lend an ear!!!
> 
> Now, as for B: ... *inhales deeply* EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!  
> We are now. On. Part. 3. In my google docs, this is the third and final document... and we’re so close to the end... *inhales* *sniffs* *exhales* 😖😖😖 I just finished writing a major scene last night that was such a big milestone for this fic, it was a complete, holy shit we’re getting there moment.  
> Which is good, cuz I’m def aiming to try and finish this fic before the show resumes... and hopefully if I do that I’ll even go back to updating twice a week to get it all posted before then as well  
> Anyway, I won’t keep you any longer. Especially because green — J2 finally join the mile high club in this one!!  
> Enjoy!

**Part III –** **_Reichenbach_ **

_“–The killer of Patricia and Andrew Dabbs, Brendan Fletcher, and three federal agents investigating the case was revealed last night to be the fourth agent assigned to Detective Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s team. Found hanging in her residence, Jessica Heafey left behind a suicide note justifying her murders on a traumatic past–”_

“Jeffrey.” Hilarie’s soft voice broke him out of his stupor, but he didn’t acknowledge her. Her quiet sigh was muted under the news reporter’s broadcast of the latest and final discovery of the case, but Jeff didn’t move an inch as she came around the sofa. Kneeling beside him, she silently watched the TV. 

“ _–been announced as closed as of this morning by the head of the department, Jim Beaver. Attempts to reach out to Detective Morgan were denied, the office releasing a formal statement on his behalf with no further comment.”_

Reaching out to the coffee table, Hilarie grabbed the TV remote and shut off the TV. In the absence of the reporter’s voice, the silence was deafening in the living room. Unbothered by it, Jeff made no attempts to break it, leaving it to Hilarie to do so, but not without dropping her head first, visibly trying to collect herself.

Jeff took no notice of it.

“Jeffrey.” Letting the remote fall to the ground, Hilarie rose to her knees, resting her hands on Jeff’s legs as she tilted her head, trying to make him meet her eyes. “Talk to me, honey,” she said softly. “You’re scaring me,” she added, voice breaking.

Mostly out of habit, he raised his hand to take a hearty swig from his flask, his trusted companion. Hilarie’s grip on his legs tightened as he swallowed, reminding him that she’d spoken. “They’re wrong,” he said hollowly. He hadn’t said a word since yesterday until now, and his voice was raspy from the disuse of it. “They just won’t see it,” he continued, distant. “It’s all fake. Rigged.” His eyes abruptly sharpened. “The bastard framed her,” Jeff said, voice low. “Put the blame on her so he could get away. Fooled them all. Even Jim fell for it.” He roughly chugged down the rest of his whiskey, emptying it not for the first time this week. “But not me,” he stood on shaky legs, Hilarie’s hands falling away. “I’m gonna solve this case.”

“Jeff, it’s already been closed,” Hilarie tried beseechingly. 

“Closed, not solved,” he corrected darkly. “I’m gonna solve it,” he repeated. “And I’m not resting until I do.”

From the ground where she still sat, Hilarie watched him walk away, defeated tears with more than a hint of fear beginning to slide down her cheeks.

oOo

Jared wondered if he should’ve kept their destination a secret this time around as well. If possible, Jensen was on edge, more so than he’d been for their trip to Florida, and infinitely more than anytime Jared had taken him on a surprise drive. From packing – “Jens, sweetheart. You really don’t need to look like a conservative Christian boy when meeting my parents” – to boarding the flight – “No, Jensen, they won’t care if you look sleep deprived, quit worrying about how you look!” – traveling with Jensen, Jared was coming to find, was an arduous process that tested his patience.

At least, this time, however, Jensen’s didn’t fall asleep once they’d boarded the plane. In fact, he’d white-knuckled his way through take off, and once in the air, began to tersely hum what faintly sounded like Metallica. If it weren’t for Jensen’s agitation seeping through to make even Jared restless, he’d have paused to appreciate the sound, faint as it was over the plane’s roaring engines. As it was, no sooner had the overhead lights indicating their safety belts to be worn was turned off before Jared was dragging Jensen up and along with him as they maneuvered through the cramped aisle.

“Jay, what’re you–” He ignored Jensen’s hissed protests, dragging him to the back of the plane. A quick, cursory glance showed no one paying too close attention, and without any flight attendants nearby to stop them, Jared pushed Jensen into the tiny lavatory. 

“Jesus Christ, Jared, what the hell?” Jensen exclaimed to his back as he shut the door. It was a tight fit, but Jared trusted that they’d be able to make do.

“Ever heard of the Mile High Club, sweetheart?” Jared enquired casually as he turned around.

It took a second, but when Jensen spluttered, already blushing, Jared knew he’d hit jackpot. He didn’t give Jensen the time to protest, though. While the lavatory was far from accommodating two grown men above six feet in height, it simply meant that instead of dropping to his knees like he wished, Jared made do with pressing forward, almost bruising Jensen’s lips with the force of his kiss. If Jensen did have anything to say, it was muffled against the intensity of Jared’s unrelenting onslaught of kisses, and even as Jensen flailed, trying to orient himself, Jared unzipped and pulled Jensen’s pants down far enough with practiced ease, boxers coming along in one go as well.

“Jared!” Jensen might’ve managed to sound properly indignant once Jared pulled back, except reattaching his mouth to Jensen’s neck and _sucking_ had Jensen breaking off in a breathy gasp. His fiancé still managed to sound scandalized with half murmured protests, which had Jared hiding a grin against Jensen’s neck. His fingers didn’t cease their attack, however. Emboldened, if anything, to desperately break Jensen’s composure, he got a firm grasp on Jensen’s length, stroking along the silken flesh without any foreplay.

“ _Jay.”_

Head falling back, he went weak in Jared’s hold, even as his fingers kept a death grip on Jared’s shoulders. At a clever twist of Jared’s wrist, Jensen’s fingers dug in, knees shaking dangerously as he held Jared close. 

“That’s it,” Jared crooned into Jensen’s ear. Dragging his tongue along the edge of Jensen’s uniquely shaped earlobe, he kept a steady rhythm on Jensen’s dick. His other hand snuck around Jensen’s waist, tickling at the dip of his spine, before trailing down further…

Jensen jumped in his arms as Jared’s fingers pressed between his asscheeks. “Jay, should–” If Jensen was still coherent enough to formulate words, then clearly Jared wasn’t trying hard enough.

Letting go of Jensen’s cock, he reached further down, and tugged on Jensen’s balls. Whatever Jensen was working up to say quickly died into a choked whimper. Jensen rose to the tip of his toes, pleasure strumming his body as one hand relentlessly massaged his balls, the other running the tips of dry fingers against Jensen’s hole.

“F-fuck,” Jensen’s breathing grew ragged as Jared rubbed circles around his hole. He didn’t push in, not yet, opting to move his other hand back to Jensen’s dick, slowly dripping precome.

“You’re doing so well, sweetheart,” Jared whispered. Clenching his hand into a fist, he let Jensen thrust into the tunnel he formed. Pulling away his other hand elicited a sharp keen of disappointment. Jared smirked, but obligingly returned his hand to where Jensen was clearly yearning to be touched. This time wet with spit, Jared didn’t play around. He pressed in with the pad of his finger, just as he traced a thumbnail over Jensen’s slit. With a startled gasp, Jensen came. Jared quickly caught him as he spilled his cum, gathering it in his fist. He kept his finger inside, another one dancing and teasing along the rim.

“Good boy,” Jared panted. “So good for me.” Jensen shuddered, whimpering as Jared teasingly dared to push in his other finger. Jensen winced when his muscle clung tight to Jared’s digit, unwilling to let go. In lieu of a distraction, he held his right hand up to Jensen’s mouth, feeding Jensen his own cum. Obediently, Jensen lazily opened, lapping at the pearly white beads sticking to his skin. Biting back a curse, Jared shoved his left hand down his hastily unzipped pants. With Jensen looking delectable as sin, licking his cum like a satisfied cat, it only took him a few harsh pulls before Jared was coming, biting his lips to stifle a yell.

For a while, they stood there, breathing ragged and leaning against each other for as long as they could afford to enjoy their post-coital glow. Jared regained his wits first, and he gently pushed Jensen back.

“Go back to your seat,” he said. “I’ll clean up here and then join you.” Jensen blinked, trying to get his own brain to work. Not really wanting to undo his hard work – he was all for ravishing Jensen until kingdom come, but he wouldn’t be doing so in such tight quarters again anytime soon – Jared unlocked the door, guiding a pliant Jensen through it before shutting the door once Jensen was out.

He looked down at his sticky hands and sighed.

oOo

“I forgot how hot it was here,” Jensen mused, scrunched up eyes glaring at the sky through the airport’s large windows. He sighed, looking away as Jared got his suitcase rolling and began walking. “New York’s ruined me,” he lamented, pulling along his own suitcase beside him as he slipped his free hand in Jared’s. “I’m gonna be a sweaty mess when I meet your parents,” he complained.

Chuckling, Jared laced their fingers together. “You’ll be fine,” he repeated. “Have you seriously not returned to Texas after moving to New York?” 

“Haven’t had a reason to.” Sensing the potential of a darkening mood if continued along that vein of conversation, Jared picked up his speed, and like a godsend, his eyes landed on a familiar figure in the crowd at that moment.

“Hey, Jeff!” With Jensen releasing his hand, he waved it above his head, getting his brother’s attention. Grinning widely, they met him halfway, Jeff immediately pulling Jared in for a hug. 

“Ah, it’s been a while since I got to do this,” Jeff said as he clapped Jared on the back with unnecessary force… right before he abruptly bent at the knees, and hoisted Jared off his feet.

“Fucking–put me down!” They drew the attention of several curious bypassers, staring with various emotions expressed via wide eyes while Jeff tossed his head back in laughter. The moment his feet touched the ground again, Jared pulled back, swiftly landing a punch on his brother’s arm, only just remembering to hold back before he could cause some serious damages, even though the urge was tempting.

“Careful,” he warned, raised eyebrows only just dissipating the seriousness of his tone. “Mom’s not gonna be happy to know that we’ve already started.”

Jeff’s laughter gradually tapered down to gentle chuckles. “Guess we’ll have to get our rough-housing out of the way before we get home then, huh?” His eyes slid over to Jensen, who was awkwardly hanging back, watching the brothers’ interaction. “And who is this?” Jeff asked shrewdly.

Wrapping his arm around Jensen’s waist, Jared pulled him up beside him. “Jeff, this is Jensen,” he introduced. “Jensen, meet my brother Jeff.” The two shook hands while Jeff blatantly eyed Jensen up and down.

“Home team?” He finally asked.

“Cowboys,” Jensen responded without hesitation. 

Jeff harrumphed as they let go, but it was lighthearted. “We’ll manage, I suppose.”

Jared rolled his eyes. “And by that, he means he approves, even though we don’t need your blessing or anything.”

Jeff, who was busy tugging Jared’s suitcase from him, paused to gasp with mock outrage. “How dare you?” He said theatrically, before throwing Jensen a sly wink. “You’re going to want me on your side if you know what’s best.”

“We’ll manage, I suppose.” Shocking Jeff, it was Jensen to retort unthinkingly. Jared suppressed the urge to chuckle as his brother was left gaping, but collecting himself rather quickly, he straightened, blinking as he reassessed Jensen.

“Well, Jare,” he began, “this is either gonna end really well, or spectacularly bad, I just know it.”

“Bold of you to assume it’ll end,” Jared said vaguely, arm dropping from Jensen’s waist to grab onto his hand again. “Can we go now? None of us are getting any younger – most of all, you, unfortunately for your wife.” Jeff’s indignant response followed them all the way to where Jeff had parked his car. Jensen was back to silently observing them, an amused expression quirking his lips up the entire time. 

It wasn’t until they hit the road that Jeff’s focus returned to them, adjusting the rearview mirror to glance at Jensen as he addressed him.

“So, my brother says you’re J. Ross,” he began conversationally. Still holding hands between their seats, Jensen’s grip imperceptibly tightened. “I’ll admit, I haven’t read any of your books, but our dad has. Checked out some of his copies of ‘em. Gotta say, the summaries do look interesting.” Jeff said. “How’d you get into writing murder mysteries anyway.”

Jared rolled his eyes, which Jensen noticed as he glanced over at him before responding, but Jensen didn’t address it.

“It just... sort of came to me?” Jensen said dubiously. “I don’t know... I guess I found comfort in writing, and the whole crime genre intrigued me the most, like the whole, ‘needing to do research’ aspect... and ultimately having everything tied up a lot neater is much more satisfying, considering how the real world is a mess.” Jensen shrugged, chewing on his lip in consideration. “Plus, there’s always the characters that are so fun and fascinating...” he trailed off, looking uncertain. From what Jared could see of Jeff’s side profile, he was impressed with Jensen’s answer, however.

“That’s fair,” he remarked. “I can see your point, and you make a damn good one.”

Jensen smiled, shy. “And what about you?” He returned. “Jared says you’re a head surgeon?”

“Neuroscience,” Jeff clarified. “Brain surgery is my speciality, especially with the kids. I blame it on being an older brother to two bratty kids,” he teased. “The way they’d always get in trouble, figured I’d make a living trying to figure out how they all work.”

“Hey,” Jared piped up, raising his eyebrows. “Screw you, I was probably the least bratty sibling in existence.”

“‘Was,’ he says,” Jeff mocked, eyes crinkling as he glanced at the mirror to share a conspiratorial smile with Jensen. “Sounds like someone isn’t denying that he’s still one though.”

Jensen’s loud, unbidden guffaw quelled any protests Jared might have retorted with. He quietly settled down instead, watching Jensen with contentment as his fiancé finally started to relax. “I bet there’s a lot of stories I could get out of you,” he said. Jared groaned as Jeff whooped in excitement. 

“Aw, hells yeah!” He exclaimed. “But only if you promise to somehow include them in your books.”

Jensen’s smile was positively sly and unapologetic as he peered at Jared before responding. “Deal.”

oOo

By the time they’d arrived at Jared’s childhood home, Jensen was suitably informed of a handful of tales featuring a shrewd and cunning Jared employing whichever sibling he deemed most efficient for whatever ploy he’d concocted. Witnessing Jensen almost breathless from laughter, Jared couldn’t bring himself to mind that much of the narration was skewed without the input of Jared’s perspective. Still, Jensen seemed delighted enough with Jeff’s version that it didn’t really occur to Jared to reveal decades of hidden cognition.

Besides. Jeff was observant enough to have picked up on Jensen’s nerves, because as they’d pulled into their parents’ driveway, Jensen was still distracted with his slow to abate laughter.

Jeff tossed Jared a knowing look through the rearview mirror. Obligingly, Jared gave a subtle nod in return to convey his gratitude. 

“Now, Jensen. I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” Jensen’s smile dropped, but before his face could begin to pale, Jeff blatantly nudged Jared’s arm as he passed by them to get to the trunk. “But unfortunately, you won’t be the center of attention tonight.” He heaved out their luggage, pausing to take a breath as he slammed the trunk closed.

Jensen looked torn between relief and foreboding dread, not at all helped by Jeff’s lack of hurry to continue. 

“The honor will most likely be reserved for our sister,” Jeff stated grimly. “Who has decided to drop all her work in Ecquador and ensure we have a proper family reunion. And if you need to know anything about our sister…”

“She talks.” Jared picked up, passing Jensen his hand carry, knowing his fiancé would feel a lot more at ease using his laptop as a shield, redundant as it was. “A lot. Barely lets anyone else get a word in.” Jared linked arms with Jensen, dragging his suitcase behind him as they followed Jeff at a leisurely pace, letting him lead them to the front door.

"To be fair, she does have some interesting stories,” Jeff said. “But our momma’s still fighting to teach her to let others speak. Probably doesn’t help that Jared’s happy to be the stereotypical middle child and pretend to be invisible whenever possible – which became all too frequently, thanks to Megan.”

“I don’t try to disappear or anything,” Jared retorted. “I know how to get mom and dad’s attention if I wanted – and I have.”

“If you say so, Wilhelm Wundt,” Jeff rolled his eyes. They lapsed into what could have passed as comfortable silence as they patiently waited for Jeff to unlock the front door. It took him a moment, as well as a few muttered curses, before he finally pushed it open. They gratefully hurried inside as fast as they could without stumbling against each other or on the luggage; living too long on the coast (in comparison) had wiped away their resistance to Texas’s sweltering heat. 

Not that it was even the hotter of days. But New York’s February was a good twenty degrees lower than February in Texas. At least.

“Ah,” Jeff sighed, walking off to the side to allow Jared and Jensen to enter in before shutting the front door behind them. “Welcome to our childhood home. My parents will be accosting you in five…”

There was a loud bark from within the house, followed by a muffled, female shout. Jensen’s face morphed into confusion, but Jared was already letting go of his suitcase, crouching down in preparation.

Just in time, because a golden ball of fluff rounded the corner, hurtling straight for Jared without pause. It collided against his chest with the full force of its weight as a woman appeared from the same courier, already yelling.

“Bones, how many times do I have to tell you not to use Gerald as a launching pad!” Too caught up in her tirade, it took her a second to register whose face Bones was slobbering at. “Jared?”

Grinning, Jared pushed the golden retriever down until it obediently backed away, allowing Jared to stand and greet his mom. “Hey, momma.”

With a gasp, Jared barely caught a glimpse of suspiciously wet eyes before Sharon was rushing forward, pulling him down into a hug. Bending down to accommodate the height difference, Jared hugged his mother back, waiting for her to regain her composure before she’d let go with an internal long-suffering sigh born from years of experience. It was always the same – an emotional hug from his mother while he rather uncomfortably waited for it to be acceptable to let go. Which she eventually did, albeit not without a barely concealed sniff.

“Dear me, I’m so sorry.” She hid her face under the guise of rubbing at her eyes. “It’s just been so long since I’ve had all three of you under the same roof – oh!” Sharon straightened, slightly turning around. “Gerald!” She called over her shoulder. “Gerald, come here and greet your son!” There was the faint sound of Jared’s dad grumbling, but they didn’t heed it as Sharon finally directed her focus onto Jensen. “And who is this fine, handsome young man?” She asked, smiling wider as Jensen flushed, her face almost splitting from her evident delight.

“Jensen Ackles, ma’am,” Jensen said, stepping forward and out stretching his hand. His eyes widened as Sharon bypassed his hand in favor of pulling Jensen in for a hug, ignoring his surprised spluttering. “Oh, none of that now,” Sharon said once she let go, clapping Jensen on his arm before stepping back just as Jared’s dad came into view. “Jared’s told us enough about you that I know I don’t want to hear you saying ‘ma’am’ or anything of the sorts,” she waggled a finger in his face mock threateningly. Jared had to twist his snort into a cough when Jensen almost went cross eyed trying to follow her finger before he quickly focused back on Jared’s mom instead, possibly realizing how stupid he’d look. “You can call me Sharon." She gave him a sunny smile, making Jensen blink wordlessly for a second.

“I – alright, M-Sharon,” Jensen said hesitantly.

Satisfied, Sharon finally allowed her husband to introduce himself, and just like that, Jared could see Jensen’s nerves returning, full-throttle.

But Jensen didn’t have anything to worry about, as Jared had made completely certain of.

“And you can call me Gerald,” Jared’s dad said, offering Jensen a hand. Jared was pleased to note that at least it looked like Jensen’s grip was firm enough – that in itself was a good first step in impressing his dad, old tradition it may be. “No ‘sir’ or ‘mister,’ but no nicknames either.” 

Sharon scoffed, swatting her husband. “As if you won’t have him calling you Gerry by the end of the day,” she remarked. Over her husband’s failed attempt to reassert himself, she turned back to Jared and Jensen, a warm smile easily at the ready. “Why don’t you two freshen up – rest, if you’d like. Dinner won’t be for a while yet. Jared can show you to your room.” She looked at Jared. “Meg’s sleeping in her room, so don’t be too loud,” she said with a wink. In immediate synchronization, the men’s reaction caused her to laugh; Jeff with a disgusted groan as he lugged Jared’s suitcase up the stairs, Gerald palming his forehead as his head dropped, and Jared was left cutting off a strangled snort when he glanced over at Jensen.

Cheeks aflame, he was studiously looking down, and Jared had to bite back a possessive smirk.

“Alright, yeah, that’s enough.” Hand on the small of Jensen’s back, he began to nudge him to the stairs. “We’ll be down in time for dinner.” Without further ado, they climbed the stairs, leaving Jared’s parents behind as Jared swiftly pulled Jensen in the direction of the bedroom he hadn’t been in for years.

Jeff wasn’t around by the time they’d got there, the only sign that he’d even been in was Jared’s suitcase along the wall near the door. Taking advantage of their privacy, Jared dumped the rest of their stuff near his suitcase and closed the door while Jensen took in his surroundings.

“So… this is where my fiancé grew up,” Jensen mused, a small smile lighting up his face as he stepped towards the bookshelf.

Stepping up behind him, Jared wrapped Jensen up in his arms, bending a little to rest his head on Jensen’s shoulder. With a quiet sigh, Jensen relaxed into his embrace, settling his hands atop Jared’s forearms. “Yep,” Jared responded. “Where I grew up, where I dropped my balls,” He chuckled as Jensen elbowed him in the gut with a small groan. “And where I’ll christen my childhood bed,” he said with a mix of wistfulness and conviction in his tone. “With the man I plan to spend the rest of my life with.”

Jensen turned around in his arms. “Jay!” He hissed, mortified. “Your family–”

“Aren’t going to disturb us,” Jared interjected smoothly. “And there’s a lock on my door if you’re still worried,” he tilted his head to the side, gesturing to the door he’d locked immediately upon closing it.

“That’s not what I’m worried about!” Jensen protested. Biting down on his lip, he averted his eyes when Jared narrowed his own, gaze darkening.

“Are you worried that you won’t be able to keep quiet then?” He asked, his voice a husky whisper.

“That’s not–no,” Jensen’s voice was weak. His gaze flickered down to Jared’s lips, and it was that which truly sealed the deal, Jared leaning down to kiss Jensen, arms supporting Jensen flush against his body as Jared led them to his bed. It wasn’t really big enough for Jared’s full size alone, but he knew he could make do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wilhelm Wundt is a psychologist who studied attention or something (forgot the details, I googled it like ages ago)  
> Do note, there will be several time skips in part three... like a lot. For the most part, I will try to include it, so hopefully it doesn’t take y’all completely out of left field *blows kisses*


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE’RE FINALLY GETTING THERE! I have two and a half scenes left to finish writing and I swear to god once it’s done, hopefully hopefully hopefully 🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽 By the end of this weekend 🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽 I will post like crazy to ensure I get this fucker completed before the show returns..   
> and on that topic, my sm has been far too depressing I’ve been mostly avoiding it at this point. Ideally, I’ll be spending the time writing instead...

Jensen had fallen asleep in Jared’s arms – not that it slighted Jared in the least. He knew how after Jensen had already driven himself ragged over meeting Jared’s parents, and afternoon fucking him when Jared had made him cum in the plane only a handful of hours prior, Jensen crashing was long due.

Jared dozed off as well, unwilling to detach himself from Jensen’s limbs sprawled over him. They woke up from their nap feeling a little more prepared for dinner – or that’s how Jensen found it benefitting, Jared figures – and after short and  _ separate  _ showers, they made their way downstairs together, where they could already hear the sounds of Jared’s family gathered in the kitchen and dining area. 

“They’re awake!” A female voice announced their arrival, causing heads to turn in the direction of the newcomers while the owner of the voice made her way over to where Jensen and Jared had paused at the kitchen’s entryway. “Hi! You must be Jensen – I’m Megan,” Jared’s sister shook Jensen’s hand for a fraction of a second before pulling him forward to air-kiss both his cheeks. Jensen looked bewildered by the time she let go, but to his credit, he was smiling cordially while Megan went on. “And whatever you’ve heard about me – is probably true, so I hope they warned you well.”

Taken aback, Jensen let out a surprised bark of laughter. “They didn’t say anything too bad,” Jensen said.

Megan’s smile was nothing short of mischievous. “Then let me rephrase; whatever they’ve said are all lies, and unfortunately for you, I don’t mean that like how it’s usually said.”

Jensen was relaxing further until it was evident that he was quickly at ease with Megan. “You remind me of my sister,” Jensen said with a chuckle. “She’d love to meet you.”

As Megan’s eyes took on a familiar glow, Jared groaned “God, no, you don’t want that,” he said. “Megan was always intolerable. No offense, Jens, but I don’t wanna think about what they’d come up with if they ganged up together.” 

Megan mockingly pouted at him, but it didn’t last for long. Grabbing onto Jensen’s arm, she began to tug him to the dining area. “You have a sister?” Megan said as she easily pulled a bemused Jensen away, leaving Jared behind in the kitchen.

“He seems nice,” Sharon said, voice low as she came up beside Jared. “Sweet, if a little shy.”

Resting against the counter, Jared smiled fondly at the sight of his fiancé regaling Megan with what sounded like his childhood tales – stories of Mackenzie being a prankster of a younger sibling, from what he could hear. “He is,” Jared easily agreed.

Putting away the glass she’d been drying, Sharon turned around to face Jared. “You love him,” she stated, matter of factly.

“I do,” Jared said simply, with not a moment of hesitation. The searching look in Sharon’s eyes melted, giving way to a pleased smile of her own, conveying genuine joy at her son’s evident happiness. “That’s good, honey,” Sharon said with heartfelt honesty. Jared’s smile didn’t fade as he looked down at his mom. “Anyway. Don’t just stand there uselessly,” Sharon turned, grabbing a pot of steaming hot food and shoving it into Jared’s hands. “Make yourself useful and help set the table! Chop chop!” 

Hissing at the too warm ceramic he was forced to hold, Jared hurried to do as she said, setting it on the table. He rolled his eyes at the sight of his brother fiddling with the TV, his dad sharing a commiserating look as he passed Jared with a pitcher of water in his hands. Jared could have scoffed; he had yet to see a day where his dad didn’t escape Sharon’s bossiness, especially when it involved matters relating to the house.

Then again. Jared’s dad could act all tough and uptight as much as he wished, but it was no secret to their children that Sharon had her husband wrapped around her little finger.

Jared’s gaze fell on Jensen again. Once upon a time, he would have thought his parents’ relationship to be dismal, boringly…  _ average _ , at best. But as he continued to watch Jensen warm up so wonderfully to his sister… Jared thought he might actually be able to relate to one aspect of his family.

With Jared and his dad helping, it didn’t take long for everyone to be seated, Jeff smartly appearing when he was no longer in danger of being roped in to help, and eagerly digging into the mouthwatering meal piled at the center of the table. For a while, the only sounds were of metal clinking against porcelain dishes as they all unanimously chose to begin diggin in before commencing conversation.

Jensen didn’t seem bothered at all by the silence, though Jared mostly credited Megan for that. At Jensen’s right, she was at one end of the table, Jared to Jensen’s left. At the head sat Gerald, Sharon to his left, leaving Jeff across Jensen.

Gerald was the first to pause in between a mouthful. “So, Jensen,” he began cordially. Jensen immediately stilled, eyes gawking at Gerald like a deer caught in the headlights. Switching his fork from his right hand to his left, Jared reassuringly rubbed Jensen’s thigh with his freed hand under the table. “When’s your next book coming out, do you think?”

Judging Jensen’s slight confusion, that was possibly the furthest thing he’d expected to be asked. Jared wasn’t entirely sure why – he’d forewarned Jensen about his dad, after all.

“Oh, uhm.” Self-consciously, Jensen set down his fork, replacing it with a napkin he used to cover his mouth with while he swallowed, Jared recognizing it as stalling as Jensen gave himself a precious few seconds. A hand sneaked under the table, Jensen’s hand instinctively seeking Jared’s for comfort. Jared flipped his hand, palm side up, and Jensen interlaced their fingers.

While everyone else’s eyes were trained on Jensen, awaiting his answer, Jared was the only one to see his mother’s eyes flickering downwards, where Jared and Jensen’s hands disappeared together under the table. A small smile tugged at her lips.

“I’d guess sometime later this year?” Jensen hazarded. “With the previous book’s release still fresh, they won’t be expecting anything from me right away. That being said,” an almost sly smirk momentarily graced Jensen’s features. “I already started with the layout and drafts for my next one. Even got a few major scenes crafted out,” he revealed.

Gerald looked satisfied with the answer. “Well, that’s good news. You’ve got quite the skill with writing, young man.”

Jensen looked down, abashed. “Thank you.”

“But seriously, though,” Jeff cut in. “Crime and serial killers? I mean, no offense, Jensen, but you don’t look the type, if you get what I mean?” Jared raised his eyebrows at that, but Jensen easily laughed it off.

“Why not?” He said. “It was either crime or romance, so I flipped a coin.” Obviously a lie, but his family jovially chuckled along, falling for it with no reason to otherwise. The conversation didn’t end there, one person or the other subtly interrogating Jensen by questioning him – whenever Megan wasn’t under the spotlight. True to form, she’d ramble on about her adventures before the conversation turned to Jensen one way or another.

At least it gave him the opportunity to actually eat.

Despite the occasional squeezing of hands under the table without drawing attention, Jensen was perfectly composed the entire time he gamely responded with vested enthusiasm. It was after Jensen had to evade the questions about his parents – the only signs of his discomfort was the steadily tightening grip on Jared’s hand with nary a sign of letting up – that Jared had stepped into the conversation, pushing away his now empty plate. Jensen was mostly toying with his last few bites.

“Alright. If you’re done with the Spanish Inquisition here,” Jared butted in, effectively halting Megan before she could get the words out of her already opened mouth. He held up his free hand as he continued. “Jensen and I actually have an announcement to make.”

Sharon gasped, clasped hands flying to her mouth. She’d probably already guessed, but said nothing even as Gerald stared at her in confusion.

“As you know, we’ve been dating for a while now, although I never really got the chance to introduce y’all to my boyfriend.” Megan muttered something under her breath, but Jared ignored her. “But because I wanted to do this formally – plus, two birds, one stone and everything…” he pulled Jensen’s hand out from under the table, displaying the ring for all his family to see. “I’d like to introduce you guys to my fiancé, Jensen. I trust you guys will save the date?”

His dad and brother stared, but with Sharon gasping again, moving her hands away to reveal her thoroughly delighted face, Jared focused on his mother. “Oh, honey, that’s wonderful news!” She exclaimed. 

“Hold up, hang on,” Jeff looked at them with wide eyes, as if Jared had spouted another head on his shoulder. “Didn’t you guys just start dating?”

Megan reached over to whack his arm, but she didn’t even look at Jeff. Too busy staring at Jared and Jensen as well, the expression on her face suggested that she may have been thinking something along the same lines as her brother.

“Ow! It’s a valid question!” Jeff claimed.

“We’ve been dating for a few months now,” despite the words, Jared’s tone was carefully understanding. “But Jensen and I… what we have, what we feel for each other doesn’t really leave room for any doubts or second thoughts.” Jared kept his eyes trained on his brother. “We love each other and don’t wanna be apart. It might be fast, but we know what we want. And what we want is this – each other, for better or worse.”

Beside him, Jensen’s hold was still tight, but his eyes were almost glassy, brimming with adoration and dare Jared put a word to it –  _ love. _ Glancing over at him, Jared smiled fondly at Jensen, effectively breaking him out of whatever trance he was in, because he rapidly blinked, looking away.

“And there’s nothing wrong with that,” Megan spoke up tentatively. “But, are you sure? Seems kinda… awfully soon.”

“Your brother is almost forty, it’s about time he settles down, Megan.”

“Uh, mom, he’s in his  _ mid-thirties _ –”

“Still damn too soon if you ask me–”

“A guy doesn’t need to be married to be settled–”

“Children!” Gerald’s booming voice had Jeff and Megan instantly shutting up, turning to their father with eyes comically widened from abashed guilt. Jensen held a fist to his mouth – stifling the amused chuckles that seemed to win over the anxiety of his squabbling siblings, Jared could tell. “Settle down,” Gerald shook his head. “Our son just announced that he’s getting married. Can we do this the proper way and react to the news with a toast?”

Beaming proudly at her husband, Sharon popped up from her chair. “I’ll get the champagne.”

oOo

Despite his father taking the news relatively well, Jared wasn’t oblivious to think that his father didn’t have his own words to say on the matter. Admittedly, while Gerald had skillfully silenced Jared’s siblings’ protests, Jared waited until the table was cleared. Megan and his mother dragged Jensen off to discuss the upcoming wedding, Jensen flailing and shooting Jared silent pleas for help with his eyes. Jared just smirked and raised his glass at Jensen – oh, he was sure he’d have to make it up to Jensen later. And he would.

With the rest of his family off doing their own thing, however, Jared stepped out to the porch where he knew his father had retreated to.

Sure enough, Gerald sat on one of the loungers, eyes distant and face pensive, a cigar held forgotten between his fingers.

Jared lowered himself onto the chair beside him, rousing his father from his thoughts with his presence. “Hey, dad.”

Gerald nodded, taking a puff. As he blew out the smoke, Jared kept his eyes on him, calmly observing the tiny glimpses of the expressions that would sneak out onto Gerald’s face, revealing the essence of his thoughts. Content to stay quiet while waiting for his father to say the first word otherwise, it didn’t take Gerald long to break the silence.

“You know,” he began conversationally, still looking somewhere far off, “you were always quite unique for a middle child.” Gerald chuckled. “Maybe it’s the parent in me. I love all you guys equally. So I’d like to say there was none the stereotypical, ‘middle child, forgotten child’ bullshit. Jeff was studious, and Megan was everything pink and sparkly one day, dirt and bugs the next.” Gerald paused to take another inhale of his cigar, still looking thoughtful. “And you just did well with whatever you put your mind to. All average – we are an average family.”

Average. How Jared grew to detest the word. Average; synonymous with dull and boring, it was the mask he’d gotten accustomed to wearing as much as someone could bear to wear a plastic mask, becoming increasingly sweaty underneath it and unable to scratch the itch reminiscent of fire ants having made their way under it. At one point.

Average was a far cry from the melodious sounds of ripping one’s guts out, the yank and tear of vulnerable flesh and soft tissue giving away to Jared’s merciless fingers. But average kept you under the radar, kept you freer than prison – and its more limited options. Lunch trays were not on par with Jared’s blades with the professionally serrated edges he’d ensured was in fine condition.

“I guess the first little jolt to our cultivated ‘average’ title was you coming home with that kid – what was his name? You were in high school, I think.”

“Tyler,” Jared responded, not needing to think much about it. He was sixteen, and after deciding Sophia’s tits weren’t worth the grating sound of her voice, brought Tyler home instead. To be fair, the excuse of needing to study hadn’t been a complete lie. Geography was a wonderful excuse to study where the best place was to dump Sophia’s body when he was done with her.

Maybe he’d visit the river he dumped her in. It was a nice place after all, and Jensen wouldn’t have to know the significance the place truly held. His first victim was probably still floating around in pieces – whatever hadn’t been consumed by the fishes. The little concoction he’d dipped her in made for effective and instantaneous fish food – no one could find her body, not when they thought they were looking for a whole body in one piece.

“I dunno what shocked your mother more,” Gerald snickered. “Walking in on your bare ass, or thinking you were too damn young to be cheating on the girl you’d been hanging around with just the week before.”

Jared rolled his eyes at the memory. At least he’d still been mostly clothed, only really taking out his dick from his pants. He couldn’t say the same for Tyler that day. And even though he wasn’t the one as embarrassed, he’d still gotten a lock on his door that night, all the while swearing to his parents that he’d be more responsible and think twice about having sex with family in the house.

Like he’d fuck someone with the danger of a pint sized, brat of a little sister walking in.

“But we didn’t care. We’d still say we’re average no matter what others thought, to this day.”

“I doubt people would call Jeff, Megan, or my profession average, dad.” Jared said dryly, but Gerald shook his head, if to himself.

“Maybe… or maybe I’m saying the wrong word.” He peered at Jared. “Maybe we’re average. Or maybe we’re just normal.”

Jared stared. “Normal,” he repeated flatly. “How is that different from average?” How was it better?

But Gerald just smiled serenely at Jared. “Happy,” he rectified. “Because our normal, our average is to be happy,” Gerald elaborated. “And that’s what really matters. The entire ‘wholesome family’ shtick, it’s average and normal in the view of society. Or maybe not, maybe your homosexuality, you and Jeff being accomplished doctors, your sister frequently traveling isn’t normal,” Gerald shrugged. “But it is to me, so long as it’s what we want. What we’re happy with,” he concluded. Falling silent, he regarded Jared with a searching gaze. If Jared was one to fidget, he’d certainly have been doing so under his father’s complete and utterly unwavering focus, rather than sitting there motionless as he was.

After a second, Jared forced himself to look away and break their gazes, no matter how abnormal the action of subservience was, even if to his father. Thankfully, the action seemed to at least shake Gerald into speaking again.

“And are you, my boy?” The words were a strange echo in Jared’s mind as he turned back to his father. “Are you happy?” Gerald asked, unwittingly repeating his wife’s words that he didn’t need to elaborate any further for Jared to understand what he meant.

“I am,” Jared nodded, voice pitched low yet softer in a rare, shared moment of utmost sincerity. “Jensen… he makes me feel alive. In a way unlike anything else ever could.” He smiled, dropping his head down to look at his clasped hands hanging between his legs, elbows resting on his legs. “Being with Jensen makes me learn and discover what it really means to be human, dad.”

If you told Jared anywhere from a few decades to even a year ago, that he’d fall in love, he’d laugh in your face. Then tear your heart out in some sort of ironic symbolism. If you’d told Jared a few months ago that he would get married, you’d better be prepared to lose your ring finger. And if you told Jared a few weeks ago that he would utter the most genuine, heartfelt words to his father without needing to double check or rephrase them with some heavy if swift consideration, he’d have referred you to his own brother – but not without taking your tongue from himself.

Today, at this moment, however, under his father’s penetrating gaze before Gerald finally nodded, satisfied, and looking away, Jared felt his chest sweep with unbridled emotion, his heart skipping a few beats. Not for the first time, he was finding that when it came in regards to Jensen, neither could he entirely decipher what every single emotion he consisted of was, nor could he decide how he ultimately felt about it either.

“So.” His father’s gruff voice broke him out of his musings, and he lifted his head to see Gerald looking out over their backyard again. This time, his father’s eyes were more focused, ruining the casual levity he forced into his tone as he changed the subject. “When’s the big day, do you think?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, and before I forgot — special thanks to Pineprin137 (I’m like 95% sure I’ve been spelling y’all’s usernames right but I could be wrong and have made a typo for which I apologize) for editing!!!!!!! ❤️


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *quietly stares at the disparaging lack of comments for the previous chapter*  
> Ah.. anyway. I have half a scene left to write, so as a celebration, have this extra long chapter along w the news that I’m back to updating at least twice a week!

“I think I’m gonna miss your parents.” Jensen said to his seatbelt. Jared raised his eyebrows.

After long yet rewarding days in San Antonio, Jensen had been successfully brought out of his shell until he was conversing with Jared’s family by himself with ease. As expected, Megan had damn near latched onto Jensen, and they all knew she would’ve monopolized him if left to her own devices. What wasn’t as foreseeable but what Jared had been hoping for all the same was Jensen being taken under Sharon – and even Gerald’s wings. Jared watched with no small amounts of satisfaction as his fiancé not only bloomed, but  _ thrived  _ under his parents’ unbridled attention.

And Jared’s parents were equally as taken with Jensen, readily treating him like their own son faster than Jared expected. Not that he was complaining. Far from it, he couldn’t even be bothered by the lack of sex after the first day, Jensen more tired by the end of the day than conscious of the others still in the house. Socializing more than he’d ever had for the majority of his life, Jensen was almost always around Gerald or Sharon, when Megan wasn’t stealing him.

He wasn’t bad with Jeff either. While Jared’s brother still… struggled to come to terms with their fast-paced relationship, he nonetheless proved that he wasn’t immune to Jensen’s charm either.

Mario Kart and their mutual competitive streaks helped, but Jared wasn’t going to get between that as much as he didn’t want to get between the screen and their deceptively looking solid remotiones.

“I think they have you beat,” Jared said, showing Jensen the latest text he’d received. It was from Sharon, reminding Jared to make sure he conveyed their wish to Jensen for safe travels. 

His mother’s text to Jared issuing the same wish seemed like an afterthought.

Why they didn’t just text Jensen themselves, he didn’t know, especially because he  _ did  _ know for a fact that they all had Jensen’s phone number programmed into their individual cells, just like Jensen even had all of theirs as well.

Jensen’s face melted into a heartfelt smile with a tinge of nostalgia to it. “Tell them I said thank you,” he said, cheeks pinking. Jared suppressed an eye roll even as he did so. Jensen could’ve done it himself, but seeing as Jared was still making up for leaving Jensen alone with his mother and sister that first day, he wisely kept his mouth shut.

Soon enough, their plane started to taxi, so Jared put away his phone while Jensen snuggled up beside him. Headed towards LA, Jensen was more relaxed than during the flight to San Antonio. Yet, too excited to fall asleep at the prospect of seeing his sister soon, Jared rested his head against Jensen’s on his shoulder, he’d settled down to listen to his fiancé eagerly ramble about how much he was looking forward to seeing his sister throughout their takeoff before Jensen inevitably nodded off.

oOo

The first thing Mackenzie did when she opened her door was squeal. Long used to his sister’s antics, Jensen merely braced himself and stepped forward just as she launched herself at him, wrapping her thin arms around him as tight as she could. Her hold didn’t hurt – he hugged back just as tight, supporting her weight as they practically fell into each other.

“Have you gotten thinner?” He murmured worriedly into her hair. She pushed herself back, breaking the hug to scowl at him, but kept her hands on his shoulders.

“Shut up,” Mackenzie said. “I could say the same for you.”

“Hey! I look the same as always.”

“Exactly,” she smirked at him, and then took another step back as Jared finally appeared at the top of the stairs of their floor, held back to pay off the taxi driver. Too eager to see his sister, Jensen was bouncing in anticipation, unable to wait any longer until an amused Jared had waved him to go on ahead while he took care of their luggage and driver. “I seriously could’ve picked you guys up from the airport.” She bit her lip as Jared hefted their suitcases over to where they stood outside her apartment’s door.

Jensen rolled his eyes. “As if I was gonna let my little sister drive around L.A. by herself at night.”

She swatted his head, too fast for him to duck. “I live here by myself!”

“And I forever rue the day I let you convince me it would be a good idea to live on opposite sides of the country.” Though he meant for his words to sound light-hearted, a twinge of bitterness crept into his tone. Belatedly, he tried to hide it by ducking his head as they entered her apartment.

Miraculously, she didn’t say anything, but he knew his sister hadn’t failed to notice his tone. Instead, she directed them to their room, a simple guest bedroom with a large bed taking up most of the space, with a dresser squeezed into one side. It wasn’t much, the same as all the previous times he’d come to visit, but it wasn’t like he cared beyond the privacy and a guaranteed mattress as opposed to what he’d really always came for.

Mackenzie waited as long as it took to dump their suitcases down, before she turned to Jared. She looked him over as he stared back, an immaculately styled eyebrow raised. Finally, she smirked. “He’s even hotter in face,” she glanced at Jensen from the corner of her eyes. “Really bagged it with this one, didn’t you?”

Jensen facepalmed. Jared chuckled, looking far too entertained by his sister’s short assessment.

“Does that mean I’ve passed?” Jared asked with a smile, but Mackenzie was still smirking.

“Not too fast, hotshot. I hold a perpetual probation card over you.”

With a groan, Jensen left the room, leaving the two to bond. He loved his sister, truly, but he forgot how snarky she could get at times, and jet-lagged, and travel weary as he was, he needed to freshen up before he’d be ready to deal with his sister’s apparently immediate liking to Jared. And while that usually would’ve been enough to ease the nerves he felt since they arrived at the airport, it wasn’t so good for a tired Jensen who undoubtedly knew his sister was already planning something or the other to playfully grate his nerves further.

Actually, there was no doubt she was already plotting something with Jared right now… 

Jensen backtracked. He’d had one foot in the bathroom, but with that revelation, all thoughts of showering the airport’s grime off of him was abandoned as he swiftly returned to the guest bedroom. For all that they were standing just as he’d left them only half a minute ago, he was not at all comforted by their identical Cheshire Cat grins, which, at his return, they turned to direct at him with equal creepiness.

“Oh, no.” He narrowed his eyes as his sister’s grin grew wider. “You,” he pointed a finger at her, eyebrow raised, “no evil scheming. I just arrived, for fuck’s sake. And you,” he turned his finger onto Jared. “If I find out you’re an accomplice to whatever harebrained idea she’s got, you’re sleeping on the floor.” He stared, unimpressed, as Jared sauntered over, the smile on his face not diminning in the slightest.

“Oh, come on,” Jared tugged Jensen forward by his belt hoops, making him stumble into Jared’s chest. “Give your sister – or me! – some credit. We were doing nothing of the sort.” Maybe if he’d dropped the grin, Jensen might’ve been more inclined to relieve him. “We were just getting to know each other,” Jared said. Jensen continued to stare flatly at him, until Mackenzie snickered.

“While this is highly entertaining, I’m also getting vibes I don’t wanna associate with my brother.” She side passed them, practically prancing out of the room with a shit-eating grin on her face. “Join me for dinner if you’re not too busy giving!” She called out.

It took Jensen a second to get it, Jared unhelpfully snickering as well. When he did, his face erupted with heat.

“Mackenzie!” 

oOo

They were to spend a week at L.A. Despite having more days to spend with his sister than they did with Jared’s family in San Antonio, the occasional nights before they drifted off were spent with Jensen quietly bemoaning with melancholy to an amused Jared over how time flew by much quicker with Jensen’s sister.

Sure, Jared and Mackenzie got along like a house on fire – she reminded Jared of his own sister, but with traits akin to Jared’s that extended beyond physical characteristics. In fact, it was mildly frightening to Jared, how easy it had become to genuinely laugh around the two, although it wasn’t that hard to with their antics. No, it was second nature to Jared to pretend to be invested in mundane, average,  _ normal, _ activities… but it was disturbing when he realized he wasn’t as much as pretending when he was truly caught up in the moments between the brother and sister.

He learned to deal with the subsequently rising frustrations over his newfound… emotions by fucking Jensen into a blithering mess as often and as silently as they could, even though Mackenzie was quick to banish any presumptions of her blissful obliviousness over their nighttime proclivities a hall away from hers, much to Jensen’s indignant mortification. Not that it stopped Jared the least bit from using his somewhat effective and underhanded method of stress relief. Whatever objection Jensen had was easily quelled once Jared was in him anyway.

Sunday, and two days before their departure, came fortunately soon enough in Jared’s opinion. Keeping him distracted proved easy enough; Mackenzie claiming last minute work issues holdin her back, but with her waving them off and at Jared’s insistence, the two men were out of the apartment before noon. From there, Jensen quickly relaxed into the role of a tour guide Jared forced him to take, and they spent the better part of the next few hours visiting Jensen’s favorite watering holes from his previous visits. And by that, Jared found himself – not at Disneyland, nor at Universal Studios, but at the Griffith Observatory. And the majority of their time was taken up by hiking before – and Jensen claimed he’d saved the best for last – they retreated to the cooler insides of the planetarium.

Jared was both surprised and not by the choice. He hadn’t known for sure that Jensen enjoyed outdoor activities, but within the planetarium, Jensen was clearly far more in his elements there.

They’d got tickets to one show or the other – Jared hadn’t really cared about the specifics – and so joined a group going in for their show, but once in, they eventually found themselves drifting away from them. The tour guide’s voice dropped to the background as Jensen fell behind, taking his time and explaining each exhibit with specific details in a hushed, reverent tone. Holding hands, Jared barely glanced at the solar flare before choosing to look at something far more worthy of his attention. In the dim lights of the planetarium, Jensen’s eyes were lit with delighted glee as he stared at the panel with unbridled focus. With his own view to stare at, Jared could relate to the passion Jensen was positively glowing with.

It didn’t take his fiancé too long to notice Jared wasn’t looking at the stars – only, he was. Just not the ones found in the galaxy, plain and the lustre matching nowhere near Jensen’s freckles, his eyes… 

“–their theories on dark matter is so fascinating, I–” the endless stream of gushing died down when those breathtaking eyes landed on him, golden flares narrowing at Jared. “You’re not paying attention, are you?” He asked accusingly, plump lips pouted in disapproval. And Jared was shaking his head no, how could he, but at that minuscule moment – well, Jared was definitely no saint, and worst of all mortals, he’d never resisted temptation before, postponing them notwithstanding. So, he ducked down, and did the only thing he could think of doing at that moment. 

Distantly, the group was ooh’ing and aw’ing as the show moved onto solar flares; explosions of golden fireworks danced behind Jared’s eyelids as he pressed his lips to Jensen’s. The background audio faded away like he was being dunked underwater, Jensen’s surprised little pant repeating like a favored song in Jared’s ears clearer than anything else. Delicate fingers trailed over his chest, igniting a fire within him that had Jared’s grip turning possessive on the meat of Jensen’s ass, thick yet giving under Jared’s hand through irritably coarse denim. His other hand skated a tantalizing dance over Jensen’s skin on its crawl up, landing at the base of Jensen’s neck. Thumb subconsciously seeking a pulse, Jared tilted Jensen’s head up higher when he found it, breaking away from ravenous lips to mouth at the fragile skin, the only barrier between Jared and the fast paced rush of Jensen’s blood.

He exhaled, hot puff of air an attack to sensitive skin; shuddering, Jensen’s skin erupted with goosebumps, prominent and begging for teeth to grace them. Jared was a man regularly washed in sin, but his sharp touch heading back to Jensen’s lips were a blessing disguised.

oOo

“About time,” Mackenzie huffed as she opened the door. Jared merely smiled at her guiltlessly, leading with Jensen close on his heels. As a precaution, he’d given Jensen his phone – not an ounce of doubt that he’d stumble on anything incriminating – to go through the pictures from their hike. It wasn’t many, a handful, really, but it had Jensen keeping his head down, attention pinned on the screen so he’d notice nothing amiss as they entered. Which worked perfectly for everyone else.

“ _ Surprise! _ ” With a startled gasp that bordered on a wheeze, Jensen’s spine stiffened, head snapping up in a move that had Jared’s own neck wincing in sympathy. The hand holding Jared’s phone went to his chest, while Jensen’s other hand clutched onto Jared.

“What the f–” his eyes widening as he took in the scene before him, Jensen’s shock slid away as he slowly began to smile. “Chris? Steve!” As he noticed all the others there, Jensen let out a delighted laugh, which became muffled as his two best friends pounced on him for a group hug. When he emerged from it, his eyes instantly sought out Jared and Mackenzie, who were standing by each other for the moment. “Did you – what is this?” He exclaimed, still looking joyous as he kept an arm slung over each of his friends’ shoulders.

It was Mackenzie who responded. “Surprise engagement party!” Jared grimaced, taking a sidestep away from her when it came out as a squeal. That right there was one good reason why he liked to disassemble humans rather than fraternize with them for fun. 

Jensen looked to Jared. “You knew about this?”

Jared easily grinned. “Someone had to help your sister with the guest list. Which reminds me…”

There were a few others in the apartment not limited to Jensen’s friends — friends of Mackenzie’s, but also Felicia and a couple of others that had Jared waiting to be done with being introduced around so he could do the introducing.

“Jens, you know Felicia.” His coworker and Jensen’s friend didn’t let Jared say another word, stepping forward to gather Jensen in a hug, only to sock him in the arm when she let go.

“Ow! Felicia, what–”

“Dude!” She dramatically waved her hands in Jensen’s face. “How could you not tell me you got  _ engaged _ ?” 

“Uh,” Shooting Jared with a pleading look that alone held a hint of a threat, reminding Jared of the last time he failed to step in, Jared sighed, albeit with a small smirk.

“It wasn’t exactly on purpose,” Jared explained. “We did want to tell our family first.”

Felicia wasn’t appeased, if her indelicate sniff was anything to go by. She blatantly turned away from Jared to address Jensen specifically. “You and me,” she commanded. “We need to talk. And while we’re at it, you have got to formally introduce your sister to me. One of the guys brought tequila and you should've seen the way she confiscated…” They wandered off, disappearing into the small crowd. The last glance Jared got of his fiancé, Jensen was still wary, but clearly growing amused as Felicia talked his ear off, reliving Mackenzie giving a verbal whooping to a man twice her size and height.

Shaking his head, Jared turned around, eyes aimlessly scanning the crowd until his sight landed on a familiar figure. Crossing the small hall while accepting congratulations and fielding small talk, Jared brought a large hand down on the man’s hunched shoulder.

oOo

“So, dude! You have to fill me in on everything.” Felicia ordered. Standing off to the side to the kitchen, they’d been watching Steve and Chris try to placate Mackenzie even as they simultaneously tried to sneak a keg out again — as if Jensen’s sister couldn’t see what they were doing right in front of her. 

“Uh,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Where do you want me to start?” 

Felicia pressed her lips together into a flat line, muffling what was sure to have been a shrill squeal. “I don’t know, how about how you guys got engaged?! When did it happen? How? Where? And oh, who did the proposing—”

“Alright, alright, I get it!” Raising his hands, palms out, he waited for her to calm down before taking a deep breath as he formulated his response in his head first. “Uh. It was New Years Eve. Jared took me to this restaurant — he proposed. But, heh,” he tapered off, blushing as he looked down, and Felicia pounced on it. 

“Buuut?” She sang out, eyebrows dancing mischievously, eyes alit with curiosity. 

“But... I asked him to move in with me first,” Jensen relented, feeling bashful. “He accepted, of course.” 

This time, she really did let out a squeal, clapping her hands together with barely repressed glee as she bounced on the spot where she stood. “Aw, that’s so — well, that’s kind of funny, but also so romantic!”

“What’s romantic?” A male voice suddenly spoke in, interrupting the two as Steve and Mack stepped up beside them, the latter eyeing Jensen with open curiosity. If possible, Jensen’s cheeks grew hotter, especially when Felicia didn’t let him answer that. 

“How they got engaged!” She gushed. “Okay, you’ve got to give me the details, what did he say — what did you say? And how’d you guys react to each other — ooh, you were in public, right, did someone manage to record you guys?”

Jensen blinked, feeling blown away by her seemingly never ending chatter, so it came as a bit of a lifesaver when Steve suddenly dropped his hand on Jensen’s shoulder. 

“While I’m dying to know all the gossip myself, do you mind, uh...”

“Felicia,” she provided, her smile abruptly more subdued and polite. 

“Felicia,” Steve grinned. “Right. I’m Steve. Anyway, do you mind if I borrow my best friend here? No offense, but I haven’t seen the guy in ages, and suddenly I get a call that he’s engaged — took me by surprise too, as you can very well imagine. I gotta do some grilling first...”

“Yeah, and we can leave the boys to it, Felicia, right?” Mackenzie said. “I don’t think we’ve properly met.” The grins they shared were sly. Why did all the women Jensen knew seem to conspire against him?

“Steve, Mack!” Jensen hissed, feeling mortified. “I am right here! And Mack, don’t you start with Felicia too!”

But Felicia laughed, not offended. “On the contrary, I’m happy to start anything with your sister,” she winked lavisciously, before raising her eyebrows at Jensen. “But you better get back to me,” she insisted, and Jensen rolled his eyes. 

“Yes, of course, okay? I’ll be your interrogation victim after Steve’s had his turn,” he turned to Steve, “and, hey, where’s Chris?”

Steve took his hand off of Jensen’s shoulder, only to sling his arm around him instead as he shifted him to look back at the kitchen. “The island of whipped, is where he is. Mackenzie’s got him chewed out for trying to bring out too much alcohol too early, so he’s trying to get back in her good graces.”

Mackenzie snorted. “Yeah. He said he’d guard the alcohol instead… like I’m falling for that.”

Jensen frowned. “He’s not really trying to...”

Before Steve could say anything, Mack rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, we’re gonna have some drunkards on our hands soon. I should probably deal with that…” she looked dubiously back to the kitchen, where Chris suddenly looked away, trying to pretend like he wasn’t just caught staring. 

Felicia snickered. “Come on, I’ll help you with that. I know you’re a badass and I can’t wait to see you in action for myself, but surely one dude can’t stand up to not one, but  _ two _ headstrong females.”

They walked away, arm in arm, and Jensen watched their retreating backs, still frowning. “No, seriously,” he said to Steve, still not looking away as they approached an innocent looking Chris. “Is Chris…”

Steve chuckled. “Nah, son. Like your friend said, Mack’s just a headstrong woman who knows how to deal with her older brother’s friends. Your sister’s too good for him in the first place.”

Jensen flushed. “I mean, not that I’d mind—” he stammered.

Steve laughed him off. “It’s okay, I get what you mean. Probably too old for her, anyway.”

Jensen scrunched up his face. “I wouldn’t say that...”

Steve glanced over at him. “Oh? Why, that dude you’re planning on getting hitched to is older or something?”

“Not by that much,” Jensen rebuked. “He’s just got me by four years.”

“Hm. Four years of extra wisdom?” Steve mused, leaving his tone open for Jensen to answer. And despite the unclear question, Jensen got it anyway. 

“I mean, he is a general surgeon.”

Steve nodded, visibly impressed. “So how’d you meet?”

Jensen internally sighed, knowing that the third degree had as good as officially started. “That girl I was talking to,” he jutted his chin to where Felicia disappeared into the crowd. “She introduced us,” he paused. “Set us up on a blind date, more like,” he amended. “She works with Jared, thought we’d hit it off, and she was right.”

Steve’s eyebrows went up. “And when’d y’all meet?”

Jensen swallowed. “Ah... August?”

Steve stared. “Last year?”

“Yes?”

“You asking or telling, son?”

“Uh. Tell-ing.” He had to shift his tone before that came out as a question as well, and obviously, Steve noticed. 

“And you’re engaged already?” He whistled. “Must be a hell of a catch.” He side eyed Jensen. “You sure he’s the one and all that?”

It was a million questions wrapped in one, and Jensen caught every one of it. 

He smiled, looking to the side as affection swirled into him. Across the hall, he spotted Jared chatting with a couple of men, looking entertained by whatever they were talking about. “Yeah, Steve.” He looked back at Steve, not bothering to hide the fondness he was sure appeared in his eyes. “He— he knows. And he doesn’t treat me differently or anything. Hell, he’s been perfect since the get go.”

If anything, Steve only looked dubious at that. “Sounds like you haven’t been together long enough to know, son.”

Jensen carefully shrugged. He knew Steve only meant it with good intentions... but it still stung. “Maybe. But... like I said, Steve. He’s been nothing but perfect. Every time — I’ve given him an opportunity to like, back off and go running, or maybe I fucked up, or—”

“Maybe he fucked up?” Steve suggested. 

“But he never did,” Jensen insisted. “He’s just... we’re in love, Steve,” Jensen said softly, but no less insistent. “And we don’t see the point in waiting.”

Steve hummed in acknowledgment. For a while, they stayed silent as they watched Mackenzie finally get roped into dancing along with some of the people — mostly hopping around in tune with the music — by a grinning Felicia.

“So... marriage, though?”

Jensen huffed, although he was amused. “Why not marriage?” He retorted, and Steve tilted his head. 

“Fair point, duly noted.”

And that was that.

oOo

“Does Jensen’s sister know you’re smoking in her apartment?”

For all that there was no way he could’ve heard Jared approaching him from behind amidst the rest of the party noises, Lindberg looked entirely unperturbed as he calmly turned and raised his neck back to meet Jared’s eyes from where he was crouched down onto a tiny ottoman.

“Door’s open,” Lindberg pointed to the glass doors leading to a balcony that overlooked L.A.’s bumbling city streets. “Wind should blow it out,” he finished carelessly, emphasizing his point with another drag of – knowing Lindberg, it was most likely a joint rather than a cigarette.

“Your funeral.” Jared tugged him up, and though Lindberg wasn’t resisting, he still stumbled in a way that no drug could make him lose his balance. “Sorry,” Jared said mindlessly, already searching through the crowd again. “C’mon, there’s someone here who I know wants to talk to you.”

“No harm done.” Lindberg snuffed out his joint in an indoor plant at the corner before following Jared. “Hot girl or fan?” 

Jared snorted, leading Lindberg through the crowd with only a glance at the soot marking an obvious spot in the dirt. He wasn’t sure how observant Mackenzie could be, but he found himself hoping the apartment didn’t start smelling like weed, if only because he didn’t particularly care to inhale the scent for the rest of their stay here.

“Maybe something more along the lines of the latter,” Jared muttered, just as he found who he was looking for. “Lindberg, I’d like to personally introduce you to my childhood best friend, Chad.”

In the middle of chugging his beer, Chad’s eyes widened comically as he rushed to swallow his mouthful, pulling away his bottle to rub his mouth with the back of his hand,

“Dope!” Lindberg exclaimed. “Name twins!” He held up a hand for Chad to clap, which turned into an awkward shake before Lindberg tugged Chad by their connected hands to bump chests. Chad looked like he was still trying to catch up with the proceedings, even as Lindberg looked entirely at ease

“Chad, meet my coworker you’ve been talking online to–”

“Live and in the flesh, baby!” Lindberg exclaimed with a whoop.

Chad’s face contorted, twisting indecisively between fear and bewilderment with awestruck eyes, before he cautiously fixed his face into more neutral territory.

Jared held back a laugh. He could count on one hand the amount of times someone managed to fluster and to catch Chad off guard – usually a mixture of the two – enough to make him behave more respectfully.

“It’s, uh. Great to meet you? In person, I mean.” Chad fumbled with his beer.

“Totally cool, man – hey, how’s that piece of tech coming along, anyway?” Lindberg narrowed his eyes. “You’re the one who was having trouble with the signal frequency and radar for the Bluetooth remote, right?”

Chad forced out a laugh. “Uh, yeah. Why – do you know someone else needing help with homemade, government level gadgets?”

Lindberg hooted at that, garnering more than a few curious glances. “Oh, boy. Try more, ‘NASA’ level. If my mom and pops weren’t so set on making me a Florence Nightingale, we’d be landing shit on Mercury right now!”

Chad’s eyes bugged out as he silently gaped, as if he wasn’t sure if Lindberg was joking or not. Truth be told, Jared wasn’t sure either, but Jensen had been incessantly staring at him since Lindberg’s loud reaction, so Jared pressed things forward.

“I’m sure NASA regrets the strength of your familial sentiments, but my friend here is kinda eager to steal some of your knowledge and wisdom,” he clapped Chad on the back. “He’s got some questions about Cloud accessibility and security, if that’s not too far beneath you.”

“And firewalls,” Chad threw in. “Damn bitches are easy to break, but securing my own–”

Lindberg snorted. “Man, don’t tell me that’s what you’re basing your work on.” At Chad’s blank stare, Lindberg went on. “Firewalls are like your castle’s fortress – you want them thick and impenetrable, sure.” It was a measure of Chad's investment in the topic that he didn’t crack a dick joke at that, Jared noticed. “But there’s always that one loose brick. So instead of wasting your time fixing it, you position your soldiers outside – fend off the enemies from your citadel for as long as you can.”

“And in this metaphor, the soldiers are, what, viruses?”

Lindberg paused. “No… I was thinking of bouncing IP servers depending on what you’re dealing with, but I like the way you think!” Lindberg’s eyes were lighting up as he spoke with gusto, in his element and clearly only gearing up further, so Jared quickly interceded before they forgot about him entirely.

“Listen, I’ll leave you to it, but Chad – Murray – I need to introduce you to Jens later, so don’t leave too soon, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Chad waved him off, glancing at Jared to show he understood, but Jared knew that there was going to be no budging either Chads anytime soon. So, with one last clap on Chad’s back and a pat on Lindberg’s shoulder, Jared returned to Jensen’s side.

“Finally,” Jensen muttered. “I was wondering if I had to come get you myself.” He held a bottle of beer in one hand, the other tucked in his pocket, but despite his outwardly casual persona, Jared noticed his bottle was still pretty full, for one.

“Why, Jens, did you miss me?” Jared grinned, bumping their arms together as he tried to solve why Jensen’s was so strung up – more so than usual for a party consisting of friends, anyway.

Jensen rolled his eyes. “Sure,” he drawled. “Chris and Steve are doing a keg stand in the kitchen, and I’m pretty sure Mack’s gonna bust an artery when she sees the state of her tiles. So, really, I just wanted to make sure I got my doctor on hand before hell breaks loose in the form of my sister’s wrath wrecking my friends a new one.”

“Ah, I see how it is.” Jared humbly lowered his head. “You just want me for my degree.”

“It has its perks,” Jensen agreed. There was a smile quirking the corner of his lips upwards, and his body was starting to lose its hard stance, however, so Jared went in for the kill and full on sidled up to Jensen.

“I should’ve known,” he lamented, keeping his voice low so only Jensen could hear. “It’s just the status, isn’t it? There’s no way you’d fall for who I truly am.” He didn’t know where it came from. Maybe the fumes of whatever Lindberg had been smoking got to him – Nevermind that it wasn’t logically possible. Because while he’d meant to keep his tone light and teasing, relax Jensen completely of whatever funk he was in, now he was the one stiffening as the words hit home harder than he’d intended. His face gave nothing away, and his tone could’ve been brushed over, but pressed up as he was with Jensen in full contact of his side, it was obvious to his fiancé, who only confirmed his observance by tilting his head up. He raised a single, perfectly arched eyebrow at Jared.

He shook his head, feeling stupid – over his body’s reaction giving him away, over the insecurity. The doubt… the guilt gnawing at the pits of his guts. His fingers fought a twitch, craving the automatic euphoria of relief that accompanied silencing a pitiful sigh, fingers sticky, bloody, deep in hidden nerves revealed as the light died out in unseeing eyes, last breaths, a sweet caress, an ambrosia akin to a lover’s touch, setting his nerves alight, fire crackling  _ poppoppop  _ like the delicate bones of fingers and toes…

Jensen was standing above him, beer bottle nowhere in sight, Jared was seated on the edge of the bed, the door closed to mute out the sounds of the rest of the party. The bass of the music thumped under Jared’s feet on the floor, in time with the rhythmic pump of his heart, intensifying as Jensen crawled onto his lap, straddling his thighs. His exhale was a warm puff of air on Jared’s face, alcohol underlined with minty, its owner alive and hot – heated skin, prickling with goosebumps under Jared’s palms.

“Hey.” Intact hands, moving gently with love, settling on his shoulders. “What happened? Where did you go?”

His hands squeezed, hips lush with flesh, freshly awaiting to be  _ pluckedpluckedplucked  _ away, separate bone, sinew, and muscle. “Nothing,” Jared said. “Nowhere. I’m right here.”

“Bullshit.” It was said so vehemently, so shockingly rare from Jensen, it jarred him enough to look Jensen in the eye. “Talk to me, Jay.” Long fingers stroked up his neck –  _ warmth on his lap, a blood bag contained _ – Jared’s head tilted back, a gasp torn out of his mouth as –  _ squeezetightenhurt _ **_chokeme_ ** – Jensen wrapped his hands around Jared’s throat. Like holding a newly hatched bird, so gentle and revering.

His vision clouded over. “I love you,” he whispered, broken, breaking, shattering.

Jensen’s face crumpled. “I love you too.” Instant, wholehearted. “Jared, what’s going on?” The bass thumped, thumped, thumped, cheers and shouts mingled with distant music. Within his chest, Jared’s heart rose to its crescendo. Climax of blood, sweat, tears, cum, lips parted on a breathtaking exhale, threatening to draw closer, and for the first time in his life–

For the first time in his life, Jared hid, tremors invading like a newfound sickness.

Jensen’s pulse was under his mouth, obstructed by a thin layer of skin, clammy with sweat, musk – Jared mouthed at the juncture, feeling for the vein – and saliva. “I love you so much,” Jared breathed out. “Would do anything for you.”

Jensen’s fingers threaded themselves in Jared’s hair, holding him close, cradling hungry teeth at his jugular. Jared’s fingers pressed unforgiving bruises into the pale skin of Jensen’s flesh, punishing.

_ Anything. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...drop a comment, maybe, please? 🥺


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly shorter chapter here, welp   
> Also, thank you for all of your lovely comments!! (Keep it coming? 🥺 🙏🏽)

“Man, where the hell did you disappear off to?” Chad demanded. The party had died down, many people gone and only a few remaining, helping the hostess around with cleaning the results of what started out as a keg stand but had only proceeded to spiral from there. “I thought you were gonna introduce me to the second half of the ‘man-of-the-party!’”

Jared rolled his eyes. “Jensen, meet Chad.” Jensen grinned, taking even himself by surprise when he let out a snicker as Chad made a dramatic gesture out of taking Jensen’s offered hand, bowing, and placing a kiss to the back of it. “My insufferable childhood best friend inflicted on me – dude, get your nasty, STD infected paws off my man.” He smacked at Chad’s head with just a light flick of his fingers, but Chad still winced. The guy was born to be a theater actor in another universe.

“And Chad, this is Jensen Ackles, the love of my life. Hopefully soon to be Padalecki.”

“Woah, wait, what? We didn’t discuss changing last names!” Jensen spluttered.

Jared blinked at him innocently. “I thought you wouldn’t be too keen on hyphenating – really, that long of a last name would be a travesty.”

“Okay, one; I’ve heard worse concoctions of a last name – there’s a girl whose first name takes up two entire feet of paper–”

“Uh, guys…”

“That’s got to be a publicity stunt, I’m telling you–”

“Guys?”

“And  _ secondly _ , why can’t you change your last name?”

“Hello?”

“I’m a surgeon! Do you know how many forms and patients–”

“ _ Guys! _ ” Like a record screeching to a halt, Jared and Jensen’s attention snapped over to Chad. Jensen turned sheepish, remembering himself.

“Sorry about that,” he said, abashed. “It’s nice to meet you – you took care of Harley and Sadie, right? That time we went to Florida?” Chad was gaping, yet Jensen barely waited for Jared’s confirming nod instead before he went on. “Thank you for that. Jared told me a little about you – mostly good things.” Jensen smiled.

Chad blinked. His eyes flickered over to Jared, fixing him with a long, hard stare. Jared wasn’t entirely sure what crawled up his friend’s pants, but he understood Chad’s silent promise of an incoming conversation between the two of them.

He returned Chad’s stare with an even, unblinking one of his own.

Chad tilted his head back, rigid expression melting as he slung an arm over Jensen’s shoulder, pulling him away form Jared. “Well, if you’re gonna stick to my boy over here, I’ve got some stories for you. And,” he looked back at Jared, “Jensen’s buddies are still hanging around. I bet if you asked real nice, they might have something for you too, Jay-man.”

He rolled his eyes at their retreating backs, but with his fiancé taken up by Chad and really nothing else to do, he obligingly set to finding Jensne’s friends in the small apartment. They didn’t take long to locate. Reclined against the balcony trail outside, Chris was strumming away on a guitar Jared had no recollection of seeing anywhere prior. Steve stood beside him, vocally harmonizing. He stopped right away when Jared stepped out to join them, but Chris kept playing, ignoring him.

“Well, hello there.” Steve raised his bottle in greeting, exchanging it to his other hand when Jared – internally reluctant – stuck out his hand. Surprisingly unlike Chris, Steve readily shook the proffered hand. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

Jared smiled politely. “Jared Padalecki. Jensen’s fiancé. Hope you didn’t mind the invite from essentially a stranger.”

Steve waved a dismissive hand. “Meh, I’ll admit I thought y’all were pulling my tail with the whole ‘engagement’ thing. Chris here was no help,” he pointedly nudged the man in question, who grumbled and moved away from the range of jabbing elbows before returning to his soft addition of background music. Jared wasn’t too proud to deny that it sounded a lot better than the upbeat music Mackenzie finally turned off a while ago.

“But then Jensen’s little sister followed your call, and – now, how was I gonna decline seeing my boy after that?” Steve finished.

Jared gave him a warm smile. “Thank you, I really do appreciate you taking the time to come out here. Jensen looked absolutely thrilled by your guys’ presence more than anyone else,” he said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, where’s our Jenny-boy anyway?” Steve asked. Chris raised his head as well, curiously regarding Jared when he rolled his eyes, another short burst of laughter leaving him in his next exhale.

“He’s, uh, inside. Introduced him to my childhood pal, and now the guy’s turned on me and telling my fiancé all the ‘juicy stuff.’ You know how it goes.”

Steve laughed uproariously, his whole body shaking with the force of it.

Jared briefly wondered how much the man had to drink, but then he noticed Chris was smirking as well.

“Well, then. It’s only fair we returned the favor, eh?” He nudged Chris again, who stopped smirking at that.

“That’s actually why Chad – my friend – kicked me out. Told me maybe you guys would be willing to even things out.” He’d highly doubted Chris would, but Steve looked game.

“Ooh, boy, do I get some.” Shifting, he straightened, pushing away from the balcony rail. “Mm, here’s one of my favorites. We were, what, in our first year of college? And if you know anything about our boy, it’s that he’s dreadfully shy, until he’s not.” Steve raised his eyebrows pointedly, and Jared grinned, all too familiar with Jensen’s rare bouts of sass.

“You bet,” he agreed. He patiently waited as Steve took a hearty chug of his beer before continuing.

“So, Jensen and I, we had this English class together. Pretty basic, except the professor was an absolute asshole…”

oOo

“Do I want to know what’s going on here?” Jensen’s wary voice alerted them to his presence a little while later, but apart from a brief pause during which Steve took in his friend, he burst out into laughter again. Thoroughly entertained and not bothering to hide it, Jared shot his fiancé an amused grin, shrugging helplessly in the face of Jensen’s friend’s drunken stupidity. 

“Steve’s just been filling me in on your college years,” he explained. “So, student, TA, professor, and studious vigilante… was there anyone in the English department whose position you didn’t usurp?”

Jensen groaned, fully stepping out onto the balcony while giving his friend the stink eye. Defensively, Chris raised his hands in a placating manner but with Steve’s laughter showing no signs of abating, Jensen’s glare didn’t waiver.

“Well,” Jensen said, with forced lightness. “I was gonna ask you if what Chad said about your high school endeavors were true, but guess you’re gonna have to stick with not knowing what I know, now.” He shot Jared a saccharine smile, even walking over to peck Jared on the side of his head before moving over to Steve. If Jensen was anything like Jared, Jared would have to be sleeping with an eye open tonight.

“You’re drunk.” He stated, unimpressed, after a moment of assessing his friend. At least Steve’s laughter was dying down to quiet snickers and giggles, although he still didn’t seem to register Jensen’s close proximity, much less his words.

“He did it to himself,” Jared said, pushing himself off the lounger. “Am I gonna regret whatever Chad told you?” He asked cautiously.

Jensen peered at him over his shoulder. “You should go find out yourself,” he shrugged. “I’ve got a drunk idiot to deal with.”

Jared stayed long enough to watch Chris stand up to help Jensen with Steve, before he headed inside.

Chad was in the kitchen, flirting with an annoyed looking Mackenzie as he leant on a broom while watching her straighten her apartment. At Jared’s entry, however, Chad’s cocky demeanor shifted as he straightened.

“Hey, Mackenzie. Mind if I borrow my friend for a bit?”

Mackenzie didn’t even look up from the coffee table as she swiped off its contents into a trash bag. “Yes, please. Before I take that broom he’s supposed to be using to ‘help’ me like he offered, and shove it up his–”

“Oookay…” Chad moved quickly, resting the broom against the wall before letting Jared drag him away by the arm. After a moment’s consideration, he herded Chad to the guest bedroom.

“What did you tell Jensen?” He demanded the second the door closed behind them.

Chad eyed him weirdly. “The prank you pulled on that jerk who was stealing kids’ lunch money – who coincidentally happened to be the principal’s son. Why?”

Jared’s tense muscles relaxed, and he dragged a hand through his hair as he tried to get the rest of his body with the program of calming the fuck down. “Nothing.” He walked over to the bed, sitting on it, pushing away multiple memories of various nights they’d spent already christening it, extending to only an hour or so ago. Not that they just had sex an hour ago when there’d still been a party ongoing outside. “He was acting a bit frosty. Guess he just wasn’t too thrilled to find Steve drunk off his rockers.”

Leaning against the wall beside the door, Chad crossed his arms, scrutinizing Jared. “You thought I told him.” It wasn’t a question. Yet, feeling obligated to answer it… Jared redirected the conversation instead.

“Did you have something you wanted to tell me?”

Chad shifted, eyes looking away, but it wasn’t at all because of the abrupt change in subject, Jared could tell. “Like what?”

“You tell me.” Jared responded smoothly. Knowing his friend, he neither moved, nor said another word, staring at Chad the entire several seconds it took for Chad to give in with a sigh. He uncrossed his arms, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jeans. And despite being visibly uncomfortable, he fixed his eyes on Jared, meeting Jared’s stare dead on.

“You said he was the love of your life.” Chad abruptly said, impromptu. “I may not exactly understand how your brain works, though God knows I try… but I could see it in your face, man. You meant it.”

Jared swallowed. “I thought we already knew I love him,” he forced his tone to be even, and why was a long engrained practice of his suddenly eluding him? “Why else would I even be marrying the guy?”

“I don’t know, Jared!” Chad exploded, hands flying. “I don’t know what’s got you so hooked – I don’t know how or  _ why _ you’re so in love with him, and why you’re gonna marry –  _ fucking marry _ – him! So, explain it to me, will you, Jared?” Chest heaving with the exertion of his rant, the silence that followed was a stark contrast that almost made Jared’s ears ring. Thoughts whirling in his head like a hurricane, however, Jared didn’t notice.

A minute passed, and then Chad sighed again, more subdued, and came to sit on the bed beside Jared. “I just – I’m just trying to understand,” Chad said imploringly. “I’m not – I’m not blaming, or–or finding fault with you, or attacking you or anything. I just don’t get it,” Chad admitted. “What is it about Jensen – out of all people – that’s got you so into him, man?”

Jared inhaled sharply. “I don’t know,” he said before he could doublethink it. Chad looked ready to protest, so Jared hurriedly went on. “No, I just –” sighing, he dropped his head in his hands. His voice was muffled, yet still understandable when he continued. “He’s a good man,” Jared said slowly, testing the words this time before letting them out. “Innocent. Everyone I know, everyone I’ve worked with… they’re all… normal and–and boring.”

“And Jensen isn’t?” Chad interrupted skeptically.

Jared let his hands fall between his legs, head hanging low. “He had every right to be just as boring as the next person,” Jared corrected. “Maybe… maybe he is.” Jared fell silent, pressing a fist to his mouth as his mind raced in multiple directions. When he didn’t go on right away, Chad opened his mouth.

“What makes him different, then?” He prompted, a tad impatient, but it didn’t get to Jared.

“Because… because he’s pure.” Jared said. The words felt odd, coming out of his mouth, but in regards to Jensen… it felt right.

Chad’s face twisted in reprehension.

“So, what, is this some sort of bodice-ripper thing? Big, bad, morally corrupt dude sullying the innocent damsel?” He asked with a grimace.

Jared smirked, but even as he shook his head, it was quick to fall from his face when he responded. “No, Chad.” His tone was reprimanding, yet soft as the weight of his friend’s words hit hard. “Jensen – he’s got his own shit. And he could be this boringly normal person,” his words picked up speed as the thoughts in his head solidified, forming an answer that had been beyond his reach until now. “But he’s different from most people because he’s got all these  _ layers _ . And, yeah, maybe I’m addicted to unraveling them because I need to know what makes him tick,” he raised a finger along with his eyebrows, silencing Chad before he took the chance to interrupt him. “But throughout every single thing I find out about him every day,” he lowered his voice as the passion in his tone increased, “he’s still always so damn optimistic, so hopeful… believe it or not, Chad, but… he sees  _ good _ in me. He knows me more than I let anyone else know me – excluding you – yet, at this point? It’s like, even if – even if I told him the truth–” he stopped, throat working furiously, but he fought to get the words out, speak them into existence, if at least to make sense of the unimaginable. “Even if I told him the truth,” and at the last second, the words twisted into the cruel reality he hadn’t intended to share – not aloud, not to Chad – “he would still be mine.”

Silence reigned for an eternity, Chad seemingly shocked into a trance. Jared made no attempt to dispel it.

Chad broke it on his own with a series of rapid blinks first. “Wow,” he said. “I-I honestly don’t even know what to make of that.” He still gaped at Jared, while Jared – perhaps not so patiently, now – waited for the gears in his friend’s brain to finish turning and processing.

“Is-is this like, a reverse hero-worship thing – or reverse Stockholm syndrome – I can’t even tell.” Chad took a large inhale, letting it out loudly as he looked away. “Whoo! Wow. Okay, uhm.” He shook his head, grinning strangely as he looked down. Staring directly at his friend as Chad pretty much copied his own movements from the beginning of their conversation Jared internally debated if he should worry about breaking his silence. Truly a rare occurrence – it wasn’t often Chad genuinely struggled to make sense of Jared. But all things considered, Jared could count on one hand the amount of times all those psychology books he knew Chad read on the sly failed his friend. “Man, you really do keep things interesting, don’t you?” Chad eventually said.

With a wry, fake grin, Jared shrugged. “Hey, I never said it’s easy to be my friend.”

Chad laughed, sharp and short. “Right.” He shook his head again. “I’m not even sure if this is accurate enough to be applicable to you, but if this was some sort of movie? I’d say that blondie damsel out there’s making a big bad wolf here feel human.” Chad huffed, looking amused at his own idea, but Jared didn’t rebuke it, surprising himself with his own silence. A mixture of dread, discomfort, anger, and finally, resignation, whirled around in his guts before ultimately, unhappily, setting.

“Maybe…” Jared quietly murmured.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there’s gonna be a bit of a time jump here. The last scene prior to this, the engagement party, took place in March, just in case that slight detail was missed.

_Sometime in June, New York_

For a retired agent, Steven Williams had been hard pressed not to sympathize with Jeff’s plight. The case of William’s late wife was off topic to anyone who knew the man, but Jeff knew enough. Which was why his study was filled with evidence baggies he’d meticulously collected, no thanks to Beaver or Chau.

Sure, he knew he was currently biased, but suddenly, the kid didn’t seem like he’d work along well with Jeff anymore. And sure, they’d advised him to take a few days off – for the record. Unofficially, Jeff was suspended after showing up one too many days stinking to the high heavens of alcohol. And among other reasons.

None the matter. Beaver expected him to take the time to “recuperate” and “come to terms with the latest case’s results,” and technically, he was. Just… not how Beaver probably intended.

He’d be damned if he didn’t do what he was doing now, though, and what he was doing at the moment was to pour through every piece of evidence collected from Heafey’s house, with the additional findings, courtesy of Williams and even some information from Cohan, who surprisingly came through (his life’s savings took a hit, but means to an end…).

His main focus wasn’t on the case files Heafey had in her house. No, those looked relatively untampered, and while Heafey’s notes on _Alona’s_ notes were important… Time and time again, Jeff found himself returning to her “suicide note.” 

“A load of bullshit is what it is,” Jeff grumbled, letting go of the slip of paper. He watched as it fluttered down to his table, resting atop the rest of the baggied evidence. It hadn’t been a pristine sheet of paper to start with, but after handling it several times – sometimes roughly, due to an overly inebriated state that had even surpassed his average BAC as it was now – the paper was well worn and even in the danger of tearing in some places.

 _“To anyone and everyone reading this,”_ it said in Heafey’s printed handwriting, only the slightest bit slanted. From hurrying, nerves… or fear? Jeff was still debating, because surely, whatever emotions caused her to rush with her usually impeccable block letters had to be linked with the true cause of her death.

“ _I, Jessica Heafey, claim responsibility for the murders of: Patricia Dabb, Andrew Dabb, Special Agent Alona Tal, Federal agent Gabriel Tigerman, and countless others._

_I feel no remorse for my actions, nor the need to explain the reasoning behind them. But, to my superiors, I do say this; fuck you._

_These handful of people, who are nothing of importance, had no one of true value in their lives, have gained so much media and attention. But the many lives lost, those who were truly loved and missed to this day, they remain anonymous, unnamed, and forgotten._

_I will not forget. And with my actions, now, citizens of New York, neither will you._

_This measly group of people who have no idea what it is like to be loved, mourned, and missed oh so dearly – these people, for whom you’ve devoted so much attention and focus on – keep this in mind. There may be more out there, and everytime a dead body shows up, I want you to remember: this is another person you’ve failed. Another family you let down, and another life you didn’t care enough about to notice and appreciate when it could have counted._

_Too little, too late. This is what the government, the police, and the so-called ‘justice system’ has taught me. And now, this is what the citizens of New York will think of when yet another name is featured on the evening news: too little, too late._

_I made and executed my own justice, my own penance, and now I return to my long awaited loved ones._

_What will_ ** _you_** _do?”_

Under the paper was the baggie he found himself returning to almost as often as Heafey’s note. He moved the paper aside, now, to pick the bag up to examine its contents, one hand blindly reaching out for his flask. It was a photo frame, and Jeff had Lauren to thank for really digging into the photo’s subjects.

Christian Campbell and Mishael Morgan. Killed in the Orlando shooting of 2016 – a hate crime, killing almost fifty people in a gay nightclub.

It hadn’t been on any official records, but it took just the extra bit of digging to uncover what Jeff had already suspected, and what others had so willingly put down as a valid motive; the two in the photograph from Heafey’s house, the same two to have been killed, had been Heafey’s lovers; the triad had been in a polyamorous relationship. A little sneak peek into Heafey’s records showed her to be on call that night. It was her last case in Florida, where she’d been since she started working for the Bureau, before she’d transferred to New York.

So. According to anyone and everyone who cared or not, it was a valid reason as any for Heafey to have done off the rails and go into a serial killing spree. Hell, it seemed too perfect; no one could account for her presence, or lack thereof, during the times of any of the murders. Whether or not she was social before moving to New York, Jeff only ever remembered her as being antisocial since she’d stepped foot in their office. Subsequently, she had no known alibis to come forth and disclaim her guilt for any of the crimes she was posthumously charged for.

Even Lauren had begrudgingly admitted to seeing no other possible leads than the one the world accepted, and that infuriated Jeff more than he expected.

The frame dropped with a noisier clatter than the note when Jeff all but threw it forcefully onto the table with distaste. Everything was just _too_ perfect, from what everyone was so happy to presumingly piece together, including – hell, even Heafey’s skill with weapons and technology, befitting any agent with slightly above average skills, which was half of the department on a good day. But it just refused to sit right with Jeff, even if he was the only one to see it. There _had_ to be something he was missing…

“Jeffrey?” Jeff started at the sound of Hilarie’s voice, hand instantly going for the gun he technically shouldn’t have, before he stilled. He turned to look at his girlfriend, feeling guilty. 

At six months pregnant, her belly was so hugely swollen, Jeff couldn’t fathom her getting any larger. Despite pouring his brains out over the case, he still had enough wits about him to refrain from saying that aloud, even though every time he saw her was a jarring jolt to reality. Each time he actually paused and oriented himself to take notice, she always seemed to be getting bigger than the previous time he’d noticed her – despite, for all intents and purposes, them essentially living together.

Surely, time couldn’t be flying that fast… could it?

“You’ve been at it since the morning, honey,” Hilarie’s worried voice paired horribly with her tired complexion, only becoming more pronounced as she cautiously stepped into the study. He remained quiet, taking in the pale skin and the deep bags under her eyes – with another pang of emotion that he stubbornly pushed away, he still couldn’t help but wonder why Hilarie looked so ashen. The guilt pushed itself in with force, morphing into concern. Was she even alright?

“It’s past sunset, Jeffrey…” Her voice turned resigned when he didn’t respond – she wasn’t expecting him to.

The words hit him like a hammer to the head, and he straightened, eyes immediately going to the clock. Eight-sixteen PM. He’d started at four in the morning, the inability to sleep kicking him out of bed after what was probably a single sleep cycle. “Oh.” His voice cracked. Wincing, he automatically took another swig of whisky to wet his throat, missing the momentary flash of contempt at Hilarie’s eyes.

“I’ve got dinner set on the table… Do you think you’ll join me?” Hope. She still sounded, and looked hopeful. A hand subconsciously cradled the swell of her belly. He stared at the way her shirt was stretched taut over her curves, the veins in her hand visible despite the dim lighting.

“Yeah,” he said absently, mind starting to drift. “I’ll be there.” 

Hilarie took a deep inhale, and despite the swell of her belly moving with the action being more fascinating to stare at, he forced his gaze up to take in Hilarie’s face. She looked annoyed, and… on the verge of snapping? 

“You haven’t come out of your study all day,” Hilarie said, tone measured and calm despite her expression screaming the opposite. “I don’t even know if you’ve used the bathroom or done anything other than coop up here since the morning.” The set of her shoulders, stiff and pushed back, made her look fierce, not at all like the weary, pregnant woman who entered his study a couple of minutes ago. “You look like shit,” she stated, glaring now. 

Jeff blinked. 

“Seriously, Jeffrey, I’m trying, but–” Hilarie fell silent, chewing on her lip as she struggled for words. “So help me god if you don’t show up for dinner—” she finally said, “—we need to talk.”

Well. That didn’t sound ominous at all. 

Yet, looking at Hilarie’s dead serious face, Jeff knew this had to be serious. So while he’d initially planned on sitting around for a few more minutes more — maybe, just maybe, something would come to him — he surprised both himself and Hilarie by standing, abandoning his work as it was and rounding the desk. “Lead the way.” He tried to smile gently at her, but while the surprise gave way, she only gave him a terse smile in return before turning her back on him and doing so. 

Feeling on edge, he followed her to the kitchen where, sure enough, a meatloaf and two plates were set out. Taking the designated chair across from her, he let her take the lead, including serving himself and watching her fill her own plate. When she took a bite, he picked up his fork, if a bit uncomfortably so. It felt foreign in his hand, different from a pen or marker that his fingers were so used to gripping by now, that he almost fumbled. 

One bite in, though, and his body’s basic needs kicked in, and he was soon shoveling the food into his mouth with a hunger he’d so successfully been ignoring up until now. 

It took him more than half his plate to realize Hilarie wasn’t eating. Toying around with her own food, she was staring quietly at him, a strange glint in her eye. Swallowing, he paused to take a sip of water before he set it down on the table, feeling like he was teetering on the edge of a precipice. 

“The, uh. Meatloaf is good,” he tried, breaking the silence. The look that elicited from Hilarie suggested she seriously couldn’t believe he said that, and personally, he was thinking the same. 

“Really?” She said, disbelieving and exasperated. At least it got her speaking. She shook her head. “No, you know what? I’ve had enough.” She dropped her fork and stood, the chair screeching back against the hardwood floor. 

“It really is!” He smiled, entirely forced and fake, which quickly fell when she shot him a scathing look. 

“No, Jeffrey. We’re not talking about the goddamn meatloaf! We’re talking about you!”

He set his own fork down, much calmer, and folded his arms across his chest. “Okay. What about me?”

She huffed. “You’re going insane, Jeffrey,” she stated flatly. “You’re perpetually sequestered away in your study. You barely come out to eat, you’re always drinking, and you’re just not present.”

“I’m here right now!”

“Well, that’s not enough!” She shouted, and it shocked him into silence. He’d never, ever heard her raise her voice before, and to do so now, meant that things were shit deep significant. “I’m fucking pregnant, Jeffrey. And all you’ve been thinking and doing is working on that fucking case — for fuck’s sake, it’s closed.”

“It hasn’t been solved—“

“That’s not the point!” Her breathing grew heavy, and he spared a thought for her pregnancy, wondering if she was even allowed to exert herself like this. Keeping it in mind, he clamped his mouth shut as she continued to rant. “I’ve had so much on my plate, with the morning sickness and the hospital visits, and god knows, I’m not complaining about our baby, Jeffrey, I’m not. I’m in love with this child, even though he has yet to be born, and because of that—“

“He?” He interrupted, despite himself. He stared at her questioningly, wondering if it was just a slip of the tongue, or...

She sighed, looking at him with pity. “Yes, Jeffrey. It’s a boy,” she didn’t let him speak. “And that’s what I’m talking about. I want this baby, and I want you to be a part of his life. But you’ve been so distant, I’ve had to take care of you and myself, and-and I just can’t do it.”

Dread soiling the settling meatloaf into rising in the form of nausea, he rose to his feet as well. “What do you mean?”

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. When she opened them, her face was eerily void of any expression. “I mean, I’m giving you an ultimatum, JD. Either you keep going down this path that frankly, I don’t see ending well. Or, you get your head out of your ass and stand up and be present.”

He gaped. “You can’t be serious—“

Hilarie didn’t even blink. “Does it look like I’m joking?”

His mouth uselessly worked, unwittingly mimicking a fish as his mind scrambled. 

And then his eyes fell to the swell of her belly, cradled under one hand. She’d been doing it constantly, he just now realized, ever since it had started protruding largely at her fourth month. And he could only barely remember that point of time, far too immersed in the case. With a jolt, he realized he didn’t even know when the last time he’d seen her bared belly was. After the first sonogram appointment where they’d received the news she was pregnant in January... she’d been on her own. He hadn’t accompanied her on a single appointment thereafter, and he had no fucking idea what was even going on with the woman carrying his child, much less their child— their _son_. 

He swallowed, dragging his eyes back up, the action too heavy to be done with ease, and yet, meeting Hilarie’s unwavering stare was more difficult to maintain. He closed his eyes instead, trying to prevent his eyes from watering, but it was in vain. 

Opening them, he swallowed again, throat bobbing as he nodded. “Okay.” He said. 

She looked at him with distrust, and with shame, he knew she had all the reason to. “Okay to what?” She asked suspiciously. 

“Okay, I’m going to — I want to be with you.” And even as a part of him withered inside, he forced himself on, knowing this decision was more monumental, more detrimental... even if he couldn’t fathom coming to terms with it yet. “I want to be there for our child, and... god, Hilarie, I’m so sorry I haven’t been there for you already in the past few months.” That much, was at least the truth, and as he laid himself bare as much as he could afford to, it paid off, for after too many seconds of staring with narrowed eyes at his face, scrutinizing and assessing, she finally softened her stance, defenses lowered. 

“Okay,” she repeated, voice hoarse and quiet. “That-that’s good.” 

She sounded a lot more relieved and optimistic, while Jeff was anything but.

oOo

_August_

Mackenzie had really outdone herself. Admittedly with the help of Jared’s family – Megan all too willing to pair up with Mackenzie – she’d still taken complete reins of arranging the wedding, and Jared had no regrets over allowing her to do so. From the glimpses he’d got, things looked completely akin to a fairytale setting, and if she’d said the truth, then Jensen was about to have his dream wedding come to life.

Jared, on the other hand, was refraining himself from turning it all into a murder scene.

“Chad, mess with my tie one more time and I’m gonna strangle you with it,” he hissed. 

“Oi, I’m just trying to make you look perfect for your big day!” Chad retorted, but he stepped back, probably knowing the chances of Jared carrying out his threat was too high, no matter the circumstances. With another step back, he scrutinized Jared before nodding, looking satisfied. 

From the sidelines, Megan sniffed. “My big brother’s getting married,” she said, her voice thick, but Jared knew better.

“If the cake is Neapolitan flavored, you’re getting icing on your face,” he said dryly, not looking away from the mirror he stood in front of. A couple of seconds passed, and then he ducked, Megan’s hand flying through the air his head had previously been occupying.

“Hey! Watch the hair!” Chad warned.

“No fighting.” Despite not even paying attention, Gerald’s voice was effectively stern. With narrowed eyes, Megan slunk back, accepting defeat for the time being.

“Well, if you no longer require my presence here, then I’m gonna check in with Mackenzie,” she said airily.

Chad scrunched up his face. “We never needed your presence in the first place – why’d you bother to be here anyway?”

“Excuse me,” Megan said archly. “ _Some_ one had to make sure my brother looked presentable.”

Chad raised his eyebrows. “And what, you didn’t trust me – or,” he steamrolled over what probably would’ve been a compelling argument had he let Megan respond to that, “your own father?”

She glared, and after glancing at Gerald – who still didn’t look up from his book. Jensen’s book, ironically – she flipped Chad the bird. Before Chad could say anything else, she started for the door, when Jared called her back.

“Wait,” walking away from Chad and the mirror, he quickly borrowed a pen and paper from his bemused dad. Quickly scribbling out a short note, he folded it in half before handing it to Megan. “Give this to Jens, will you?”

Even while looking impatient, she still smirked at him knowingly. “Of course,” she said sweetly, and then she was gone.

Jared sighed as the door closed behind her disappearing form. “You’d think she wouldn’t be bratty on my wedding day, at least.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case there are any questions as PinePrin137 wondered, assume Jared’s been busy in the bg w the wedding plans during the time skip, and Jeff... well, it’s not like he could advance further in a closed case that Jared ensured was neatly tied up
> 
> Comment, please? 🥺


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And finally.... the long awaited scene
> 
> For reference, Jensen is wearing the suit he wore to the: “13th Art of Elysian Celebration ‘Heaven’ at Hollywood Palladium” (google that... but I bet y’all know which one I’m talking about)   
> And Jared is essentially wearing the white suit that he wore as ‘Lucifer’ from 15x05, “Proverbs 17:3”

It was his wedding day, and Jensen had no idea where Mackenzie went. Yes, he understood that as the one responsible for making sure the entire ceremony went without a hitch, she’d be busy. But she was his sister, his one blood relative, and it was his wedding, and  _ where the hell was Mack _ –

“Woah, woah, hey there, brother.” Steve’s worried gaze pierced through the fog that had descended upon him, and that, coupled with a firm hand on his shoulder, was enough to ground Jensen, even if just for the moment. “Deep breaths, c’mon, that’s it.”

“Oh, dear.” Behind them, the door opened to permit Sharon, automatically closing while she rushed to Jensen’s side. “Are you alright?” The attention, while heartwarming, was too much, and not from who Jensen wanted it to be. Still, taking deep breaths like Steve suggested, he plastered on a smile as he tried to appear composed at his future mother-in-law. 

Mother-in-law. Jesus Christ.

“I’m good,” Jensen said. “Just–ah. Nerves? Where’s–have you seen my sister?”

“Aw,” Sharon cupped Jensen’s cheek, on opposite sides from Steve, but his friend moved back anyway.  


Jensen mourned the loss of Steve’s comforting hand even as he leaned into Sharon’s gentle touch.

”Don’t worry – you have no reason to fret! Mackenzie is doing wonderfully out there, but I promise she’ll be here soon – ah, what did I say?” She grinned as the door opened again, and this time Mackenzie entered the room – which she’d even decorated just for Jensen to get ready in as well. Megan trailed in, right behind her, her own grin resembling the one on her mother’s face.

Sharon moved away just in time for Jensen to find himself with an armful of his sister. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, pausing to savor the moment before she let go. He could already feel himself relaxing, and while he was still fighting the remnants of his agitation, he already felt a lot better with his little sister there.

“Oh, you look so goddamn perfect!” Mackenzie squealed as she pulled back, looking over Jensen’s outfit, not for the first time, as if she hadn’t been the one to arrange his suit. Rather than the traditional black, it was a beige, almost gold color, and even the design was untraditional. Instead of the usual undershirt, it seemed to wrap around his torso, buttoned to the sides rather than down the center, and it extended, with the collar, all the way up and wrapped around his neck. Jensen didn’t know the first thing about suits, except maybe the basics… and how to dress himself in one… but even he could admit that this strange suit… well, suited him.

“Are you kidding me? You don’t look too bad yourself!” He looked at his sister’s gown. She and Megan, acting as the maids of honor, were dressed in similar shades of purple, but that was as far as the similarities went; both gowns were uniquely designed for each sister. Jensen may have been biased, but in his mind, his sister easily looked the best, not that he’d be saying that aloud. And besides, Megan was a close second.

“Well, duh. It’s not like it’s my only brother’s wedding or anything.” Mackenzie rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t quite tamper down her grin. Smiling back at her, his attention was shifted as Megan stepped forward.

“Here. Jared wanted me to give this to you.”

Ignoring the knowing smiles that seemed to light up all three women’s faces at that, he eagerly took the slip of paper from her. Failing to hide his excitement, he fumbled a bit before he got it open, hands quickly rotating the note right side up before he began to read its short but heartwarming message.

_ Jensen, _

_ I’m not a writer like you, but I am your fiancé, and soon to be husband. While the mere words thrill me, I use them right now to express how I know you. So take a deep breath, and calm down for me, sweetheart, Your sister has everything handled, and know that I eagerly await to see you walking down the aisle, even though I’d wait forever for you.  _

_ So, smile, clear your brain. Don’t bother to think about anything… except that we’ll be seeing each other again, real soon. _

_ Yours, _

_ Jared. _

Blinking, he surreptitiously sniffed, aware of his audience. With careful fingers, he folded the note back up, and placed it securely within his pocket before raising his head. They were still smirking at him, but something in Mackenzie’s face changed, and he had a split second to experience dread before she and Megan latched onto each of his arms, leading him to the chair set up in front of a vanity, which he’d been valiantly ignoring up until now. Their faces spelled out something scheming, and despite their lax grip, he knew if he tried to make a break for it, they wouldn’t hesitate to use their manicured nails on him. 

“What… are you doing?” He huffed as they simultaneously pushed him down onto the chair, making him look up at them with a healthy dose of fear.

Mackenzie grinned while Megan turned around, fielding with a large bag set on the vanity. Through the mirror’s reflection, Jensen’s trepidation only grew as he saw Sharon silently heralding Steve out of the room.

With a quiet sound of triumph, Megan turned around, holding several small items in her hands, none of which he could recognize. 

“Time to primp up your adorable face, Jensen!” Mackenzie announced with utter glee.

For several seconds, all Jensen could do was stare, completely rendered speechless as realization dawned on him, along with a large heaping of horror. “No,” he said, when he could get his voice to work again. “Absolutely not.”

Megan’s face fell, her hands – and the  _ makeup products _ , Jensen was horrified to realize – drooping, but Mackenzie’s grin didn’t waiver in the slightest.

“Mackenzie,” Jensen started threateningly, “don’t you dare…”

oOo

Their wedding was arranged to take place at Clove Lake Park. Jared had no idea how Mackenzie got a piano set up outside, but there it stood along the pathway Jensen was set to walk down soon. Chris was seated in front of it, quietly conversing with Steve, both of them occasionally gesturing at the piano in question. Jared would readily admit to having no clue what was going on, but if “here comes the bride” started playing, then he couldn’t be held accountable if he started laughing aloud instead. 

By his side, as they waited at the altar, patiently for the most part, Chad was making a general nuisance of himself. Long accustomed to it, it wasn’t too hard to ignore him, even though Gerald kept shooting him glares from where he was already sitting at the front row. Apart from Jared’s dad and his and Jensen’s sisters, everyone else had already arrived and were seated. Even Jared’s coworkers were in attendance, Misha, Felicia, Lindberg — who looked high, but what else was new? — Ty and Sandy... and many others, from his family’s close friends to Mackenzie’s friends and whoever else she invited on behalf of Jensen. 

Not that Jared cared about any of that. Even the sporadic flashes of the photographer’s camera didn’t bother him. Much. Although... he may have made subtle plans for his next victim. Surely, a man his parents hired wouldn’t be too closely linked with Jared if found dead...

Anyway. Point was, everything was in order. It was sunset, the scenery was surely breathtaking – not that he’d paid it much attention – and everyone was in attendance. The only thing left…

As if his thoughts summoned them, Mackenzie and Megan sidled up to their respective sides of the altar, Megan beside Chad, and Mackenzie shuffling to stand beside Steve as he took his place – beside where Jensen was to stand. Both women had conspiratory grins on their faces, but Jared didn’t have much time to ponder about it, because Chris began to play the piano right then. Soft, yet cheery notes announcing Jensen’s arrival, Jared stood ramrod straight, at attention with his eyes fixated at the curve of the path where Jensen was to come around…

And come around he did.

Jared’s breath caught.

Arm in arm with Sharon, Jensen’s head was ducked down as Sharon whispered something in his ear. Even from the distance, however, Jared could see the shy, yet unguarded grin blooming on Jensen’s face. Familiar heat pooling low in his gut, Jared greedily drank in the rest of the sight while waiting for Jensen to join him. He was dressed in a mouthwatering, form-fitting suit that almost looked like it was shimmering under the setting sun’s rays.

Jared absently applauded Mackenzie in his mind; it was a beautiful complement to his own suit, that much, he could tell. Although… if the color of their suits were intended to be symbolic, then Mackenzie only got half of it right. Jensen was surely worth more than gold, but while he looked perfect in it, Jensen would’ve been a far more appropriate choice to wear white; Jared was as far from pure as he could get. At least the blood red rose he’d put in his pocket on a whim worked a lot better in that regard.

However, Jensen… Jensen looked downright delectable, so Jared couldn’t even think of uttering a word otherwise. And when he finally raised his head, a few steps away from the altar… Jared just about stopped breathing. Suddenly, his sister’s smirk, still visible from his peripherals, made sense. He could see the makeup on Jensen’s face, although it wasn’t anything outrageous or extravagant. His eyes were lined and his eyelashes were popping; the faint blush on his cheeks clearly aimed to rival the natural flush Jared knew would inevitably appear soon, and whatever they did to his lips made it look all the more plump and ready for Jared to sink his teeth into.

As Jensen stepped onto the dais beside him, Jared’s cock stirred in his pants. He barely paid any heed to his mother grinning at him as she let Jared take Jensen’s hand. Far too gone with the enthralling sight before him, he could only make a mental note to thank their sisters later… and maybe get some tips as well.

The priest – Sharon and Gerald’s friend, who they’d also invited and helped to fly down to New York for the ceremony – cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention. “Dear friends and family!” The man’s voice boomed out in a solemn tone. “We are gathered here today…” 

His eyes pinned on Jensen’s, he didn’t miss the moment when Jensen finally got the courage to peek up at him. All sounds, and everything outside the two of them ceased to exist as their eyes met. Desire, affection, and  _ love _ pooling in his gut like molten lava, it was all he could do to hold back from kissing Jensen senseless then and there. Green eyes accentuated by the eyeliner, made to enhance his natural beauty and nothing more, Jared lost himself in the depths of the green forest that were Jensen’s eyes. So full to the brim with emotions of his own, they floated there, adrift from the others, in their own world, thick and heavy with love, lust, and longing.

A nudge to Jared’s arm threatened to break their bubble, but he didn’t allow for that. Knowing what was needed, he kept his eyes on Jensen, not breaking their gaze as he started to utter the words to a speech that, while carefully edited, would still be the truest words he’d ever say in his life.

“Jensen Ross Ackles,” he began. Their hands were clasped together, and they stayed that way, alternatively flexing and loosening their grips with excitement, but still, never letting go. “I never thought, on the day we met, we’d end up here.” Getting married after barely a year of meeting; a year ago, he would’ve laughed at the prospect. “But now, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be, than the moment we become each other’s. If I could, I’d bask in this moment for eternity. But living out the rest of my life with you by my side, for better or worse, through the lows and the highs, the good and the bad… I’d say that’s not too shabby of an alternative either.”

Surprised, Jensen let out a bark of laughter, He wasn’t the only one – their audience tittered in the background. It still didn’t break Jared’s focus on the man in front of him.

When it was clear that Jared was done talking, Jensen started with his own vows, shy but gaining confidence with each word. “Jared Tristan Padalecki,” Jensen breathed out, a thrill rushing through Jared to hear the words falling so reverently from Jensen’s lips. “I found and made my life dependent on words and using them to express myself, my past, my present. And then, you came along and–and showed me that my world doesn’t have to be confined and restricted to them; to yesterdays and todays.” Jensen’s eyes twinkled, tears starting to appear but didn’t fall. “Thousands of those words have been inspired and encouraged by you, and yet, you can make me speechless unlike any other.

“Being speechless with you… I don’t need  _ words _ to express myself. I love words, but the love I hold for you makes me yearn to discover new and I found ones by your side. And the hope, that love… has brought us to the beginning of the adventure I can’t wait to embark on, because you, Jared Padalecki, have shown me the future… We’ve already made one discovery, and it was you, opening my eyes to the tomorrows.”

Surely, there couldn’t have been a dry eye then, because the depth of love radiating from Jensen, voiced by the words he’d said… Jared didn’t try to control the sensation building up within, waiting to combust via tears of his own.

They barely caught the cue to exchange rings, Jared’s hands threatening to fumble in a way he’d never experienced since he first picked up a blade for his first surgery, first kill. Practice held them steady, even when he had to catch his own ring when Jensen nearly dropped it.

But the moment it was on, whatever the priest said, whatever their guests were doing, none of it registered in Jared’s mind, because Jensen was surging up to meet Jared halfway as he bent down, and as they kissed, the fireworks Mackenzie had rigged couldn’t overshadow the ones exploding within Jared.

oOo

When he’d received the invitation, he thought it was a joke. He almost disregarded it too, but something in him kept it. He didn’t have a reason as to why he did that... and he didn’t have an explanation for why he stood in a suit right now either, seated at the back as the ceremony commenced. 

Ackles looked nice. He could admit that. Jared... Jared looked breathtaking. The man didn’t even look away once from his fiancé turned husband, and he felt his heart thawing just a little bit, if only to see them so happy together as they were pronounced husband and husband. He even found himself cheering a little, with the rest of the guests.

Afterwards, as everyone rose to greet the newlyweds and whatever else was planned, he dawdled around, debating on just leaving now, when Jared’s eyes landed on him. He saw Jared make quiet excuses to Jensen and whoever they were talking to, before ambling his way over to him. 

“Jeff,” he greeted smoothly, face a pleasant mask. Weird. In all the days he’d known him, Jared barely had a face like this. For someone who just got married, he wondered why Jared would shut down his expressions — before quickly dismissing that thought. Obviously, his presence wasn’t going to entirely bring joy, even though he figured it was Jared who invited him... “I didn’t think you’d make it.”

He shrugged, feeling awkward as he shoved his hands into his pockets. For a moment, he wished he had his flask of whiskey on him... but there was no way Hilarie would miss the scent on him later, and besides, he  _ promised _ he’d try.

“Didn’t think I would either,” he said. “But here I am.”

“Yes, here you are.” Jared agreed. He looked Jeff over for a few seconds, making Jeff feel like a bug under his stare. It was unusual, to say the least. “How’re you doing?”

The question took him by a surprise, though he struggled to hide it as fast as he could. “Uh,” he laughed, looking down. This was Jared, he reminded himself. And no matter who he was now... a married man who regarded Jeff like he was almost a stranger... once upon a time, they were still friends. Or something like it, anyway. “Not good,” he admitted, looking back up. “The case... it’s been fucking with me.”

“Yes...” his voice was low, smooth and almost hypnotizing. “It’s been closed, hasn’t it?”

Jeff laughed again, though there was a harsher note to it this time. “Yeah. Bet you’re happy to know your husband’s got nothing to do with it.”

Jared scrutinized him. “But you’re not,” he observed. “Happy about the case.” It was a statement, and not a question. 

“Hell, no,” Jeff looked away, watching as the guests all flicked over to Jensen. Like Jesus with his disciples, attracted to the light. Maybe he could start to see the appeal. “There’s nothing right about it.”

“Is that so?”

This wasn’t right. They were at Jared’s wedding, he was talking to the groom, they shouldn’t be discussing a murder case like they were talking about the weather over a cup of coffee. But Jared was always willing to listen, seemed like he was right now as well, no matter how odd he was behaving, and... 

And Jeff just needed someone to actually talk to. Someone who would hear him, and not dismiss his thoughts as the raving of an alcoholic lunatic far too gone with his PTSD nightmares. 

He didn’t completely agree with that assessment, not that it mattered to anyone he talked to. But Jared was here, Jared was looking at him, and he felt his mouth automatically opening, words rushing out, eager to be acknowledged. 

“Look, I know what the news says,” he began in a hushed whisper. “But Heafey — my coworker? Like hell am I gonna believe that she just, what, went off the damn rails and started killing people. Not because of some sort of twisted sense of revenge. That’s not who she is.”

There was a small furrow between Jared’s eyebrows, indicating that he was mulling over Jeff’s words. “And no one else believes that?” He assumed, correctly as Jeff figured he would. 

He shook his head, feeling defeated. “No,” he huffed a dry laugh, feeling weary. “No, they just think  _ I’ve _ gone off the rails. Nah. They were only too happily willing to accept it as a simple close and shut case. That isn’t what this is, though. Heafey isn’t—wasn’t the killer,” he finished, frustrated. 

Jared hummed. “You’re right,” he said. 

Jeff frowned. Hardly daring to believe it — did Jared really trust him, just like that? — he took in Jared’s posture almost absently. 

The smile slipped, something darker... something... sinister creeping into those hazel eyes. Slanted in the night with only fairy lights around the area to illuminate the space, his eyes were cast in a shadow. “Heafey wasn’t the murderer,” he said conversationally. “I am.”

Jeff gaped. 

“Ha ha,” he said weakly. “That’s real funny, Jared.”

The scowl Jared shot at him made him wish he could’ve bitten his words back. “Don’t be stupid, Jeffrey. You know it’s possible, and it is the truth.” He suddenly grinned, white teeth gleaming in the relative darkness. “I’m the one who murdered the Dabbs. Snapped old lady Patricia’s neck for a clean kill — hadn’t been planning on killing her, to be honest. Had more fun with Andrew, though,” he slouched, hands tucking into his pockets to mirror Jeff. To an outsider, they could’ve been talking about anything — other than Jared confessing. “I’ll admit, I thought you were a fucking maniac to think Jensen did it, just ‘cause his scene inspired  _ me _ .” The words were said so casually, but there was a darker undertone to it, promising the merciless violence his victims must’ve seen shortly before their deaths, and it made a shiver crawl ever so slowly down Jeff’s spine.

“And then I killed your agents — that you know about, anyway. Alona Tal... she was a smart one. She was actually starting to catch onto me. That’s why I had to get her first,” Jared said, tone rather apologetic. 

Jeff swallowed. “The— no one knows about—”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jared waved a hand, dismissing his words. “News didn’t cover the details that I know. Have you put two and two together yet?”

Jeff stared. Like a deflated balloon, he stood there, frozen as his mind tried to recalibrate. The man in front of him, who’d always been so passionate, so kindhearted, and good, was suddenly everything but as he revealed what Jeff had been dying to know...

He never should’ve come here. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have found out, Jared wouldn’t have fucking confessed, and he wouldn’t have his world tilting off its fucking axis...

“You— are you  _ confessing _ ?” Say no — say yes, Jeff didn’t know what he wished for. 

Jared just smiled, looking thoroughly entertained, as if Jeff was merely amusing him even though he was confessing to several murders to a federal fucking agent. 

“I’m putting you out of your misery.” He pursed his lips. “Actually, I’m fucking the rest of your life up.” He amended. “Because do what you will with the knowledge that you know who’s really behind the kills... more that you haven’t discovered yet, and more to come. And there’s nothing you can do about it.” He straightened, using the few inches he had over Jeff to loom above him. “You can try to solve it, you can try to pin it on me, but that’s as good as what you tried to do with Jensen. You won’t find batshit on me, and no one will believe you.” He tilted his head. “Do you want me to tell you how the rest of your life will go, from here?”

Jeff didn’t respond. 

“You’ll go crazy trying to compile enough evidence. And when you lose it — and you will — you’ll get suspended, maybe even fired. Your girlfriend will leave you. You won’t have any more friends. Any family you might have will disown you,” he scoffed. “A raging lunatic, if you don’t get locked up in an asylum for spouting lies and bullshit, brandishing a gun you shouldn’t own, then you’ll try to come after me yourself in some sort of self righteous path of justice.” Jared sighed, removing a hand from his pocket and glancing at his watch, appearing disinterested as he went on. “And then I’d have to give you another lesson, because clearly, you didn’t get it the first time when I killed your whole team — and that was just because you thought you could go after my Jensen.”

Jeff swallowed, more and more pieces falling together in the back of his mind, and none of which he could pay attention to at the moment. 

“Or...”

He forced his voice to work. “Or what?” He tried to say threateningly, but his voice damningly faltered and shook. Jared huffed a smirk.

“Or, you go back to your girlfriend. Keep what I said in mind and do nothing about it, because there’s nothing you  _ can _ do. After all, that’s a road that leads to hopelessness and nothing fruitful, and on the other hand,” he gave Jeff his full focus for the words he said next. “Isn’t Hilarie due to give birth soon? Next month, right?”

Jeff’s mind blanked. 

When he came to, he was up in Jared’s face, holding the lapels of Jared’s suit. “Don’t you fucking dare,” he hissed. “If you lay a hand on her—”

“And now you know how I felt,” Jared said unaffected, gently but firmly removing Jeff’s hands from his coat. Even if his hands hadn’t wavered, Jared’s fingers were too strong, too tight as they pushed his hands back to his sides. “When you went after Jensen, who’s just as innocent as your girlfriend.”

“You fucking bastard,” Jeff growled, trying to hide how helpless he felt. “There’s no way—”

“I’m getting away with this?” Jared raised his eyebrows. “I think you’ll find that I actually will.”

He stepped back, putting some distance between them, and then clapped a hand on Jeff’s shoulder.

Jeff fought a flinch.

”Sleep on it,” Jared advised. “I trust you’ll make a... smart decision. Especially when you think about the ones you love — and don’t even try to deny that those people are out there.” Letting his hand slip off of Jeff’s shoulder he took another step back — and then smiled, and it was nothing like the smile he’d given before, filled with malicious secrecy. No, this was the Jared Jeff knew and loved — or thought he did. With a sunny smile and a bounce in his step, Jared looked every inch the harmless puppy he apparently never was. “It was nice seeing you, Jeff. Hopefully, we won’t have to see each other again.”

And then, like he just said a joke, he fucking winked at Jeff, turning his back and returning to his wedding party, leaving Jeff behind to stand there, helpless, hopeless, and lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Depending on this chapter’s reception I might post, like last week, three chapters this week again. What do you guys think?


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All our own by Jensen Ackles cuz duh

They were finally seated at the head of their table, accepting multiple congratulations and exchanging more introductions on both sides before everyone settled in time for speeches to be made. Jared’s family, Mackenzie, and even Chad took the stage — if Chad hadn’t stopped in the nick of time when recollecting stories from their childhood, Jared would’ve been compelled to throw something at his head. Unfortunately, he knew their guests would eagerly flock to Chad later, asking him for the rest of the juicy details— no doubt all part of his womanizing plans. Jared resigned himself to dealing with it if and when he had to. 

All too soon, everyone else had finished with their speeches. Jensen was looking around with furrowed eyebrows, which morphed into confusion as Jared pushed himself away from the table. Shooting him a big grin and a wink, he bent over to peck his husband on the lips before he jogged over to the stage, standing in front of the mic. 

“Good evening, everyone,” he tipped an imaginary hat at the crowd, winning smile in place. “Now, some of y’all might recognize me — as a surgeon ‘round these areas, and if you know me, then chances are, I’ve worked on you. But, I’m also the luckiest groom you’ll get to see today!” The chuckles died off to cooing sounds — from the females — and catcalls and whoops from his friends.

Still grinning widely, he turned to Jensen and winked. “I know everyone just wants to focus on the food and get on to the other fun stuff — believe me, so do I—” there were more catcalls, this time wild hoots from Chad, Steve, and embarrassingly enough, Megan, although it was hilarious to see Gerald leaning over to hush her, only for Mackenzie to take up the calls. “So I’ll try to keep this short. 

“Jensen, I’m no writer like you are, but you make me want to become a poet. I could spend the rest of my days composing sonnets describing every inch of your–”  


“ _Jared_!” Jensen hissed, scandalized, audible from the distance, but Jared went on without a hitch, albeit smiling mischievously at Jensen.

“Beauty,” he finished.

Jensen let out a visible sigh, glaring at Jared, but the flush on his cheeks — and there it was, brighter than whatever artificial powder the girls smeared on him — emboldened Jared further. Not that he really needed it. 

“What I am, as I mentioned before, is a surgeon. I’m used to taking people apart, fixing them, and putting them back together. You might have to wonder what this has to do in a wedding speech,” he acknowledged. “And it’s all in regards to Jensen. See, now I get to do all that, as a married man, to you personally.”

Megan was shrieking with laughter, Mackenzie gone silent with uncontrollable laughter. His parents were red, but the most noteworthy reaction was of Jensen’s, who’d buried his face in his palms.

”Only, there isn’t any fixing I need to do with you.” Here, he became a little more somber. “Because Jensen, you are perfect the way you are. Every inch of you, be it the flaws or the beauty, makes you this wondrous human being that is incomparable, and it is truly a privilege to be able to call you mine. And starting from tonight,” he grinned lewdly again, but just for a second, “I don’t know if you realize this, Jens, but it thrills me to call you my husband as I explore every bit of you over and over again. No matter what I learn, I’m sure you’ll teach me new things, because — you mentioned earlier, we get to embark on this journey?” 

With visible trepidation, Jensen uncovered his face from his hands to nod, a little uncertain. Jared smiled encouragingly at that. “Call us Lewis and Clark then, sweetheart, because you’re not the only one who’s gonna make new discoveries.”

The audience cheered, mingled with hoots and whistles at the blatant innuendos. As Jared returned to his table, Chad clapped him proudly on the back, pretending to wipe away a tear, while Sharon rolled her eyes. 

“For all of our sakes,” Gerald said, voice lowered. “I’m gonna take your words at face value and pretend you weren’t talking about having sex with your husband while we’re all still here.”

Jared guffawed, throwing his head back and letting it rest on the back of the seat. Absently, he reached an arm out to Jensen, but he abruptly came back to himself when his fingers only met air. Straightening in his seat, he turned to Jensen’s chair, which was blatantly missing the man himself. 

The microphone screeching from the stage had his head turning, and he raised his eyebrows with surprise when he found his husband on stage, blush still evident as he adjusted the microphone. Jared watched with suspicious eyes as Chris rose from his spot at the table and slunk off back to the piano... and Steve suddenly popped up behind Jensen, holding a guitar. 

Jensen kept his eyes on the mic as he got it set up lower than the height Jared had it at. “I, uh.” Jensen laughed awkwardly, looking down. “You’re gonna have to excuse me. I don’t really have anything to say, which is kind of ironic, I guess. But… I’m just gonna dive right in.” He seemed to nod to himself before he raised his head, and locked eyes with Jared. “Without further ado, Jared... this one’s for you.”

And as Steve began to pluck at the guitar, Chris starting up the same tune he’d been playing earlier on the piano, Jared realized with utter glee what was going on. 

They played several notes before Jensen began his part.

“ _ Listened to yesterday, _

_ Long before the way it has become, _

_ And it all came down to you.” _

Steve and Chris — they must’ve gotten their own microphones at some point — chimed in with the last word, drawing it out as they sang in different pitches, creating a beautiful harmony alongside Jensen’s. With the next word, Jensen sang alone again. 

“ _ I don’t really know the way, _

_ It played out stranger than it seemed, _

_ But what went down came true.” _

Again, Steve and Chris harmonized with the last word as Jensen drew it out, before Jensen continued.

“ _ Like an all day dream… _ ”

Steve and Chris joined him all together again, their voices notably lowered than his to keep Jensen’s voice at the forefront.

“ _ I don't want to be the one to say it's wrong _ ,”

“ _ When the heavens open and a new day comes along, _

_ I know I would rather be together alone, _

_ In a big top circle and a world we can call our own, _

_ It's all our own.” _

While Jensen paused as Steve and Chris carried the song on with its notes, Jensen peeked at Jared, making contact for the first time since they began singing, and smiled, just a little bit bashfully.

Jared’s heart thumped painfully in his chest.

All too soon and not soon enough, Jensen began singing again, his mouth forming out the words like a sweet caress, voice occasionally dropping to a sultry tone. It made Jared feel various emotions at once, from his heart swelling in his chest to his cock filling out in his pants. Every moment he’d ever heard Jensen sing quietly to himself, every moment when Jared had promised to himself that he’d make Jensen sing aloud for him one day, and now his promise had come true, and all he could do was wait with barely constrained patience for the song to be over so he could pull Jensen close and lay claim to his lips for everyone to see. At the same time, Jensen’s voice was like ambrosia to his ears, sweet and dark, filling him with passionate affection even as his cock yearned to stake its possessive claim in him. It was the best and sweetest form of torture, one Jared knew he’d be exploiting from his husband as much as he could in the future.

The song was drawing to an end when Jared realized there was no longer anything holding him back, so why did he have to, anyway? With that in mind, he pushed himself out of his chair just as Jensen sang the last note, and Jared was on the stage by the time Jensen was pulling away from the mic upon the completion of his singing.

Jensen startled when he opened his eyes to find Jared right in front of him. He’d closed them while singing, only looking to Jared every now and then.

“Beautiful,” Jared murmured, bringing his hands up to cradle Jensen’s face, drawing their foreheads together. “Absolutely beautiful.” Eyes half-lidded, he barely took in the sweet dusting of red he’d like to think was reserved for him alone. Eyes drifting closed, he kissed Jensen, plush lips giving way under his shameless plundering.

Of course, trust Chad to ruin the moment.

“Get a room!” He hooted at the newlyweds. Without a second’s hesitation, Jared flipped him off, eyes still closed and lips still pressed to Jensen’s.

oOo

They just had to accept the ton of gifts everyone and their neighbors got them, and then the dance, before they could slip away. Jensen just wanted to fast-forward to dancing with Jared already.

Jared’s bachelor party consisted of the traditional club and strippers that Jared was firm in letting Jensen know he’d had no interest in. For all that Chad supposedly knew Jared so well, a party of such kind only appealed to the best man himself. Jared secretly swore to Jensen that one day, he would retaliate. Even if the day Chad got married was the day pigs would fly, Jared had also sworn with his next breath.

Meanwhile, Chris and Steve were a little more productive with their own plans for Jensen. They hadn’t just managed to compose the song Jensen sang as part of his own wedding gift to Jared, but they’d also gotten it recorded with extra instruments and vocals – they’d come a long way since their college days of adventuring with music, and advancements in technology helped as well. The end result was waiting in the stereo systems for Jared and Jensen to dance to.

Sure, he knew there were things in between that would later equal priceless memories; dancing with Mackenzie was surely one. Their wedding night, and whatever Jared had undoubtedly planned in particular… 

But, really, Jensen had done more than his fair share of socializing and being outgoing for the day. He now just wanted to skip everything and go to bed. His muscles were already aching from being on his feet for the majority of the day, and his face felt stiff from the smile firmly fixated on it.

Sharon’s smile gave his own, one of the grooms’, a run for it. It looked like it almost threatened to crack her face in half with how wide it was. Beside her, Gerald was more reserved, simply holding a thick envelope, which he promptly handed to Jensen.

Casting a dubious look at Jared, who made no move to take his father’s gift, Jensen took it instead. Uncertain, he held it limply in his hands until Gerald prompted him.

“Well? You got a dawdle all day, or open it soon, already?”

Jensen gaped. “Now – uh, here?” So far, they’d taken the fan joy wrapped gifts and placed it on a table behind them set up for that very purpose. “Okay?” Flipping the envelope around, he broke the seal, pulling out the papers and unfolding them. He immediately recognized it to be an official document – it took him a little longer to figure out what exactly it was about.

“A-a house?” He spluttered, looking at his in-laws with wide eyes conveying his utter disbelief. “You’re gifting us a frig–house, a–” he looked down to the paper, feeling his eyes bug out at the random details that popped out to him. “A  _ mansion _ ? There’s no way–”

“It was a joint gift, dear,” Sharon said, smoothly speaking over him. “We all pitched in, but Gerry and I really footed the bill.”

“I–are you sure?” Jensen insisted, glancing down at the form again. “I don’t know if – this is really… this is big, Sharon, really–”

“Hush!” Sharon flicked Jensen’s arm reproachfully. “You’re married to my son, you’re part of the family now; call me mom, or any variation of it, I’m not picky,” She countered, looking every bit of an admonishing mother that had Jensen’s eyes watering, and then she was pleasantly smiling once more, almost giving Jensen whiplash in the process. “We always had something big planned for our kids’ wedding days. You don’t have to worry about being special. Just… consider this a tradition you’re now a part of, as our son.”

Jensen swallowed, head dropping as he stared at the form. “I-I really don’t know what to say.”

“You could say ‘thank you,’ dimwit,” a nudge accompanied his sister’s voice as she joined them at their sides. “Besides, it also goes hand in hand with my gift to you guys.”

“Do not tell me you bought furniture,” Jensen immediately said point blank. He was already uncomfortable with the idea of his sister spending any sort of extravagant amounts of money on him, though he never voiced it. “You’re a fashion designer, not interior.”

She rolled her eyes at his jest. “No, you douche.  _ I’m _ your gift!”

Jensen stared at her with blank eyes. Beside him, Jared snorted, turning it to a badly disguised cough. “Sorry, what?”

“Not like that, you moron.” She punched his arm, and he scowled as he rubbed it, the same spot Sharon flicked him at. Jensen was sure there would be a bruise there by the next day, and he was one hundred percent certain Jared wouldn’t be happy about it until he marked it as one of his own.

“Must you really insult me with every sentence?” He muttered, mostly rhetorical, but she still beamed at him, hearing his words loud and clear despite the low tone amidst the rest of the guests’ sounds in the background.

“Hells yeah, idiot. Your wedding day isn’t changing shit. Sorry,” she winced apologetically at Sharon and Gerald, remembering herself just a little too late. 

They merely smiled back at her, silently amused.

“Anyway. That,” she jerked her chin towards the ownership of property form in his hand, “means you’ll be moving out. Which leaves your current place empty. Which you could sell, or…”

“Or, you can accept what would be my gift, considering it was my idea,” Jared chose that moment to interject. “And help Mackenzie move… across the country, into your place, and have her a _ lot _ more closer to where we’ll live.”

Jensen stared at his husband – and that was still something he was getting used to – trying to process the news he’d just been dumped with.

It was a lot to digest.

Finally, he held up his free hand, gesturing for them to wait, before pinching the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. “Okay, hold up and rewind for a second.

“One; you knew about this,” eyes opening, he looked at Jared. “Two, you _helped_ plan this,” he repeated. “And three…” he turned to his sister, opting to drop the issue of the expensive gift for now, if at least only in front of everyone – namely, his in-laws, and the benefactors of said gift. Nevermind that aforementioned gift was his main problem, but ignoring that for the time being… “You want to... _can_ you really move here? And — are you sure?” He asked, still not daring to believe it.

Perhaps sensing the need to not mess with him right now, Mackenzie’s smile turned softer, the teasing edges falling away. “Yeah, Jen-Jen,” she said kindly. “I can come home – to  _ you. _ ”

The tears fell down his cheeks, but he quickly hid it by burying his head on her shoulder, drawing his sister close for a tight hug. She responded to it with equal emotion. He could tell, because while possibly no one else heard it, her mouth was close to his ear, so he easily heard her sniff.

“I love you, Jensen,” she whispered to him alone, voice thick. “And I’m so goddamn happy for you, finally.”

Neither of their eyes were dry when they pulled back, but their spectators wisely chose to stay silent, letting the siblings have their moment.

“So, don’t be hard headed and just accept it, okay?” Mackenzie grinned, teeth flashing, even as her eyes continued to glisten. “It’s about time we all get our happy endings, no stipulations.”

He stared at her for a moment longer, before turning to his new parents.

“So… alright, then, I suppose?” He shrugged, forcibly swallowing down the emotions to keep his tone deceptively light and casual, even if they all knew he wasn’t fooling anyone. “When do we get to see this new place of ours?”

oOo

Jeff was in a trancelike state as he made his way home. The entire way, Jared’s words echoed throughout his head on repeat, bouncing around and around and keeping him ensconced in his mind, making him pour over every detail he’d missed since he took the case... but now looking at everything from a whole new angle, with an entirely new perspective. Barely paying any attention to his surroundings, it was with a belated sense of gratitude to note that he made it home safely... he was ninety-nine percent sure he hadn’t run over anyone, anyway, but it was still surprising to come back to himself to see that he was by the front door, frozen for he didn’t even know how long. 

Shaking himself out of his stupor, he unlocked the door and made his way in... and immediately froze as another gut wrenching scream resonated through the place. 

“Hilarie?” Instantly on alert, he made a mad dash for it inside. His only thoughts in that split second was to find his girlfriend, and  _ if Jared had done a single thing to her, damn everything he’d said about future possibilities... _

“Jeffrey?” A pained moan followed the call just as he pushed his way into the bedroom, coming to a screeching halt to find his girlfriend... 

Looking completely untouched, except for being bent at the waist, clutching at her belly with one hand, the other hand gripping tight onto the bed to hold herself up. 

He shook himself again, forcing away thoughts of Jared, and tried to bring himself to... whatever was happening in the present before he made his way to Hilarie’s side. 

“Honey?” He bent down beside her, hands in midair, unsure where to place them, if he was allowed to touch her, wondering if he should help support her to get on the bed, or stay on the ground, or help her sit—

“I-I think,” she panted out between breaths, forehead clammy with sweat. “I think I’m in labor.”

Jeff stared. “You— we — it’s only been eight months?” His voice was pitched high, ending it like a question, and everyone would admit to him falling behind on his responsibilities at the early part of her pregnancy, but he still had enough common sense to know that pregnancies usually lasted nine months, not eight, and Hilarie was most definitely at her eighth month, if the last hospital visit he’d  _ accompanied _ her to was still written correctly on their shared calendar in the kitchen. 

“Tell that to our kid,” Hilarie gritted out. Catching one of his stray, flyaway hands, she clutched it right, and he had to fight back a gasp at his own with the surprising strength behind it. “Because I’m pretty sure my water just broke.”

Together, they both looked down, different expressions on their face. One spelling frustrated anger, the other still blank minded, they took in the wet puddle under Hilarie. 

“Oh, fuck.” Like wires finally connecting and sending the electrical pulses through goddamn finally, Jeff burst into action. “Alright, baby bag, baby bag, baby—”

“Motherfucking—” Cursing out a blue streak that would’ve made any war weary officer in Jeff’s office blush, she effectively silenced him before she even addressed Jeff.

“In the living room. By the couch. Help me get the fuck up and out of here, now!”

Swallowing, he immediately made to do so, only muttering a terse, “yes, ma’am.”

It was clear that despite being in labor, Hilarie was in far more control of the situation than he might’ve hoped to be. 

“Hand me your cell,” she commanded when they were in the car. Beside him in the passenger seat, her tight grip on the dashboard mirrored his own on the steering wheel, knuckles turned white. 

“Uh, what?” He hardly dared to take his eyes off the road for even a second, his eyes flickering over to her in a quick glance before he was looking head on again. 

“I said.” She hissed through gritted teeth. “Give. Me. Your.  _ Phone _ !”

Why the fuck she wanted his cell when they were already on their way to the hospital, but chancing another glance at her, he quickly dug into his pocket to do so, one hand still on the wheel. Handing it to her, he immediately returned his hand to the steering wheel, trying to refrain from side eyeing her as he continuously overtook one car after the other, annoyed by what was a typical traffic night in New York. 

“Mom?” Hilarie’s voice, softer than she’d been with Jeff the entire time, cracked right at the end of the word. Abruptly, her need to make a call made sense. Jeff was barely clinging onto everything, flying by the seat of his pants. Hopefully, Hilarie’s parents could be the responsible anchors he couldn’t be. 

Jeff had already accepted that he’d been neglecting their relationship, in multiple ways mostly stemming from him not putting his own share of work into it. 

Thankfully, they got to the hospital without incident, Hilarie’s parents promising to be there as soon as they could. They wheeled her in, the nurses unfazed at Hilarie’s controlled breathing — and practically dragging Jeff along with her thanks to the death grip she had on his hand. While he knew he’d keep his mouth shut until the whole ordeal was over, he also knew he’d be quietly asking one of the nurses for an ice pack later.

To his surprise, they allowed him into the room they quickly got her set up in. He’d thought they’d have him stay behind or have him scrub up, but they calmly just directed him to stand well out of the way, beside Hilarie’s head — and hand, while they crowded around the business end of the hospital bed, hooking her up to machines and checking how far along the dilation she was. 

From there, it was a blur of swears and screams. At one point, Jeff resolved that he would burn Ackles’ books when they got home. Whether or not he was involved, his girl was... creepily well informed with the details of how she was gonna eviscerate him. 

He just had to take the kind nurse’s knowing smile at face value when she promised him Hilarie wasn’t going to carry out on her threats. 

Most likely. Probably. Maybe?

Jeff really didn’t want to have to deal with another killer, potential or not. He had enough troubling his mind with the knowledge he had of the one to have terrorized New York lately, and it was bothersome to the point that Jeff couldn’t even be entirely present during the birth of his child. 

A couple of hours later, another nurse informed Jeff that Hilarie’s parents had arrived, if he wanted to see them. He checked Hilarie, who was still huffing and groaning, the contractions coming along faster now but nowhere close to actually popping out the baby, so he nodded. 

Following the nurse, he exited the room, watching her as she made the thick metal doors open to allow them through. 

“Oh, thank god,” Hilarie’s mom, Rebecca Burton, let out a relieved exhale, rushing towards Jeff the moment she spotted him. “Is she alright? How’s she doing?”

“Uh, doc’s’re saying everything’s going along normally, so fine, I guess?” He hugged her back and then turned to Hilarie’s dad, shaking his hand firmly despite the aching bruise already settling into his bones, it felt like. 

“Hilarie’s brothers couldn’t be here,” Stephen said, voice gruff and mostly void of any expression that could give away the concern he undoubtedly held for his daughter. “Flights are too hard right now.” Always a man of few words, Jeff didn’t mind, sympathizing, if anything. 

Nodding along, he turned back to Rebecca. “Do you want to see her? I’m sure they’d let you in.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to get in the way...”

“Nonsense,” Jeff smiles genially. “Hilarie will be happy to have you there, and besides. I could probably do with a coffee myself.”

Rebecca really didn’t need anymore convincing after that, letting a nurse to guide her to her daughter, leaving Jeff and Stephen alone. 

Jeff cleared his throat. The silence wasn’t exactly awkward... except, it could be, if his girlfriend’s parents were aware at all about how much of a dick Jeff had been to their daughter for a while. 

Her words, but he understood the sentiment. 

“So... coffee?” Stephen nodded, and Jeff gratefully started to hunt the place down for some caffeine, Hilarie’s dad right on his heels. 

They took their time with the coffee once they got it. It tasted like crap, like someone tossed the bare essentials in and still managed to render it a cheap and shitty version of what it should’ve come out to be. They didn’t need to exchange any words, Stephen seemingly content to stare out a window, Jeff focusing on his coffee, the table, and anywhere except for the man seated across from him.

When they didn’t have an excuse to dawdle around any longer, they made their way back through the winding hallways to get to the childbirth center, where they found Rebecca pacing around the lobby. 

“You’re here,” she grinned, tugging at Jeff. “Hilarie wants you, she’s almost there.” 

Abruptly choking up, he allowed her to steer him into the room, pushing him and letting the door close behind him, leaving her on the other side, and his screaming girlfriend in front of him. Swallowing, he took his position at the head of her bed again. When she threw out a hand, he clutched it and let her hold tight as she bore down. 

“Almost there,” the doctor between her legs reassured. “We can see the head now.”

Hilarie let out a roar of pain, nails digging into the back of Jeff’s hand. “Fucking bowling ball of a—“ she bit herself off as she pushed, and the doctor cheered her on, urging her to keep going, the head was out, they only had the shoulders left before she’d be done, and Jeff tried to keep his coffee down, abrupt nervousness making him lighthearted. Dammit, but he wasn’t gonna faint. 

“It’s a baby boy!”

The shrill sound of their baby’s cries was piercing in the room, louder than everything else to Jeff. The beeping machines, the congratulating doctors... they all sounded underwater.

He blinked when they shoved something into his hands, staring dumbly down at the scissors. He hadn’t the faintest clue what the hell he was supposed to do with it, until the grinning nurse that had been with them since the beginning showed him where he was supposed to cut the umbilical cord. 

Trying to keep his hands steady, he pressed down, pushing away the fleeting worry of hurting either his child or his girlfriend. He still couldn’t get any words out when they whisked his son away, leaving him to stare as they retreated to the corner of the room where a large sink was. 

Hilarie’s renewed grunts stoke his attention again, and he looked at her, worry returning with force.

“What— is she okay?”

“It’s just the placenta, nothing to worry about,” the doctor reassured, businesslike again as she stood between Hilarie’s legs once more to help her push out the afterbirth. 

It stunk to the high heavens, but he kept his mouth shut, watching the nurses wash his son instead. In no time at all, they were carrying him back to Hilarie, letting her cradle their son. 

“So, we still going with the same name?” The doctor asked absently, doing whatever needed to be done with the placenta while the nurse who’d given them their son helped her, another nurse at a computer on the other side of Hilarie’s bed. 

Hilarie exchanged a quick glance with Jeff. “Yeah,” she looked down at their son, eyes soft. She was pale and clammy with sweat, hair plastered to her forehead, and she was still the most beautiful person Jeff saw in that moment. “Welcome to the world,” Hilarie crooned softly, “George Augustus Morgan.”

Jeff choked out a sob, tears sliding down his cheeks. Hilarie just kept smiling as he bent down over them, placing the most gentlest of kisses on the baby’s forehead. 

Unbidden, Jared’s words from earlier returned. 

_ “You’ll go crazy... and when you lose it — and you will... your girlfriend will leave you... any family you might have will disown you. _

_ “And don’t even try to deny that those people are out there.” _

He looked down at his newborn son, who dared to open his eyes for the first time and still only managing to successfully open them a crack, before finally settling startling blue eyes on his parents. 

The decision he knew he had to come to, the one he’d already made, settled heavily in his gut like a lead stone. 

_ “I trust you’ll make a smart decision.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/15-Hillcrest-Dr-Pelham-NY-10803/33082776_zpid/
> 
> The mansion cuz why tf not have a luxurious of a happy ending?  
> Only, one more chapter — epilogue! — to go!! Fuuuuck


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to KaenNoMai, who prob won’t see this unless I send it to her, as a happy birthday: you’re getting fucking drunk and halfway across the country, I lowkey hate the people who get to be w you and miss you like fucking crazy but stay safe and I love you so much b 😢😘

**Epilogue:** **_Lazarus_ **

They were at the coast again, but it was nowhere near Florida. Greece was glorious even if you didn’t know the right places and people, but Jared knew the people who’d ensured him a worthwhile stay. No matter that they weren’t going to stay in Greece for long — he and Jensen had spent one night randomly spouting out places they’d wanted to see, but while Jensen hadn’t thought much of it, Jared had taken note of every place mentioned. 

Jensen was still in shock over the house. Jared didn’t think he’d cottoned onto what Jared had planned, but he was happy to wait patiently for Jensen to realize why they were traveling so much for a honeymoon, going from one country to the other every week. 

And of course, Jared also noted down which countries he’d return to. A week was nowhere near enough time for Jensen to spend all the time he truly wished to uncover the crooks and crannies that would potentially be written into his next books. 

For now, however, they were lazing about on a beach. Jensen was, for the lack of a better word, frolicking in the waves, occasionally beckoning at Jared to join him. Holding the latest book Jensen had written, Jared just smiled, holding up the book in one hand and an upheld finger with the other. He was definitely going to join Jensen soon, why would he lounge under their umbrella when that was clearly the better option?

But for the time being, he stayed in place, pretending to read. Head bent down, for all intents and purposes, he looked like he was thoroughly engrossed in the book. But with his shades firmly pressed up his nose, creating the perfect tint darkened further under the umbrella’s shadow, no one was the wiser as to where his eyes really were. 

Several yards away, a potbellied man stood in the ocean, grinning lecherously at the girl, who looked half his age, in his arms. She was bent forward, laughing and pressing her butt into his groin, and though Jared couldn’t tell if her laughter was genuine from the distance, he didn’t need to be any closer to know the man was undoubtedly enjoying the contact that was moments away from getting too risqué for the public eye, however much of a stretch Greece’s rules on public indecency may be. 

When it looked like the man was ready to fuck her in the water then and there, they finally stepped out, clambering clumsily over the sand as the man couldn’t keep his hands to himself. Jared flipped a page of his book as they left, his eyes on the man’s retreating back. 

They would be going to the hotel room where the man would proceed to fuck the girl for however short of a time his stamina lasted, and then the girl would be well on her way once the man was tuckered out. The man would effectively be unconscious until the morning, the drink the girl would coax him to consume after they step into his room keeping him under for several hours after spending himself.

He wouldn’t wake up by the time the drug would’ve been due to have run its course through his system. 

The girl would be well paid and claim complete innocence, the man seemingly fine when she left. And the police would soon stop bothering. Lucian Miguel was a rich man, but the tiniest bit of digging would be a relief for all governments involved to know he was no longer alive. The media would make sure his death triggered the movement it needed to. After tonight, hundreds of children would be liberated.

Not that Jared cared about that. He sure as hell wasn’t doing it for the kids, or the government — fuck that. 

No, his reason had finally given up on making Jared join him, and instead walked over and flopped onto the blanket beside him, unaware of where Jared’s eyes and mind had been merely a second ago. 

“Ugh, what’s the point of coming to a beach if you’re just gonna read my book?” Jensen lamented. “You could read that literally whenever! We’re in Greece, Jay!”

Jared hummed, carefully closing the book and setting it aside. With his next move, he was holding himself above his husband, Jensen blinking up at him. 

“You do have a point,” he said thoughtfully. “We should be making the most of this, shouldn’t we?”

“I mean, yeah—” 

With a grin, Jared shut his husband up in the most effective — and pleasurable way he knew how. Hands roaming, he absently started a timer at the back of his mind. 

Soon, Jared would establish his duties as a husband thoroughly, and Jensen would be wrung out yet satiated. And under the guise of grabbing a drink, or maybe he’ll forget their umbrella on the beach — not Jensen’s book. The book was too precious. Anything else, he could’ve easily bought another one to replace it, instead of coming to the beach in the middle of the night for it... but Jensen didn’t have to know that. 

Either way. If Jensen wasn’t asleep — if Jared hadn’t fucked him well and truly senseless — then he’d make a quick excuse, leaving him as oblivious as he was now to the plans Jared had made... 

And so long as everything went well — as always — Jensen would remain none the wiser to Jared’s sole little rendezvous before slipping back into bed beside his slumbering husband, before Jensen could even notice anything was amiss.

Jared let his sunglasses be pulled away and dropped carelessly onto the sand. He buried his smile in the crook of Jensen’s neck, unhindered with his sunglasses no longer obstructing the way. Under him, Jensen closed his eyes, smiling as Jared dug his hands to knead into the soft flesh. 

With Jensen distracted, Jared tilted his head up slightly, hazel eyes narrowed as he looked at Lucian, now at the edge of the beach and near the hotels, the prostitute still wrapped around him.

oOo

_ He’d been ignoring the calls, letting them all go to voicemail until his inbox was full and wouldn’t accept any more. It was easier with his cell phone – the calls to his landline meant he’d had to hear every one of those messages. _

_ Every time that happened, he took another swig of whiskey, and didn’t budge from his spot on the couch, blank, unseeing eyes trained on the TV. _

_ Apart from occasional trips to the toilet – he hadn’t resorted to pissing in a bottle yet – and the kitchen for more alcohol, Tom was pretty much settled where he was. _

_ For three days. It took them three days before the knock on his door came. Tom was surprised. He’d honestly thought it would take longer than that, if they didn’t give up after the many missed calls, _

_ And he knew it wasn’t Robbie. For starters, his boyfriend had a key. Secondly, Tom wasn’t sure they were still boyfriends after that second day. _

_ Back to the present, the front door opened with a slam. Tom huffed in surprise as he drank some more whiskey. He didn’t expect Robbie to come back. _

_Except, the person who settled on the couch beside him was decidedly_ ** _not_** _Robbie._

_ “The hell do you think you’re trying to accomplish here?” Greg asked without fanfare. _

_ In no mood whatsoever to deal with Greg, the alcohol adding to his surliness, Tom scowled into the glass bottle. “Shut up, Greg,” he mumbled. _

_ “How about, no,” Greg retorted calmly. “We’re gonna talk about this, get you showered because frankly, you stink, and then I’m taking you to the office because you’ve had your break. Break time’s over now, and we can’t have you slacking off any longer.” _

_ “Oh, yeah?” Pulling himself up to his feet, he cast a seething glare down at Greg, even as he swayed in place, the whiskey bottle heavy in his limp yawns. “Why’s that? ‘Cause you said so?” He sneered. In all his time at the Bureau, he’d never once behaved like this. But, he snorted at the thought, figured everyone broke, sooner or later. Greg himself was always the one to say that the likes of Tom would never last long with them. He made sure to remind Greg about that little tidbit. _

_ Greg frowned, taking his arms off of the back of the sofa to rest his elbows on his knees instead. “I was wrong,” he said, “to say that. To you, especially.” _

_ Tom snorted.  _

_ “You’re not broken, Tom.” _

_ Tom laughed aloud, a horrible, dead sound. “Could’ve convinced me,” he managed to cut off the laughter before his sobs broke loose and overwhelmed it. “I  _ **_shot a girl_ ** _ , Greg. I  _ **_killed_ ** _ a girl. Her life – her blood is on my hands,” and as if his hands were still stained, Tom glanced down pointedly at them. If he was being honest, he never stopped seeing the blood on his skin, no matter how hard he scrubbed. _

_ Greg got to his feet at that, carefully eyeing Tom.  _

_ He wondered how he must’ve looked, for Greg to stare at him like that. “Did you aim the gun at her?” Greg asked seriously. _

_ Taken aback by the seemingly random question, Tom blinked, surprised. “I-what? No!” He exclaimed. “Of course not!” _

_ Greg briefly nodded. “Did you intend to shoot her?” _

_ “No! But just because–” _

_ “ _ **_Did you_ ** _ ,” Greg’s voice boomed over his,“know that she was going to run in front of Landon like she did?” _

_ Tom flinched at the name. When he spoke, his voice was weak, but he pushed on all the same. “No, but–” he wasn’t surprised when Greg cut him off again, and he was too tired to be getting annoyed with him just yet.  _

_ “Would you have taken the shot if you knew she’d be the one to take the bullet?” _

_ “No.” It was almost a sob as Tom collapsed, crumpling onto the coffee table behind his knees, the whiskey bottle forgotten between his legs. “God, no. Of course not. You know that.” He covered his face with his hands, rubbing at his weary facial muscles. As if encouraging the blood flow would rejuvenate him. As if it would make his problems disappear – as if hiding his face would bring Maggie back. _

_ No, none of that happened. But every time he closed his eyes, he could fool himself into thinking that as Maggie appeared behind his closed eyelids, seconds before she’d get shot, blood pooling everywhere around her, the gun a leaden weight in Tom’s hand…  _

_ Greg stared down at him, eyes inscrutable as he stayed silent for several seconds. _

_ “Get up,” he finally ordered. _

_ Dropping his hands, Tom looked up at him. “What?” _

_ “Get up,” Greg repeated. “Take a shower. We’re leaving within the hour.” _

_ “Where?” Tom asked wearily, but he had an idea where, so he made no move to stand. _

_ “To work,” Greg said, just like Tom thought. He raised his eyebrows, like he usually did when he thought Tom was being particularly dense, and at that moment, Tom wished he had the energy to mirror the expression right back at Greg.  _

_ “I’m not coming anywhere, Greg,” Tom said with a sigh. “I already told you that. Leave me alone.” _

_ “And  _ **_I_ ** _ already told  _ **_you_ ** _ , that’s not happening,” Greg retorted. “Come on. Get up before I make you.” _

_ “I’d like to see you try,” Tom muttered under his breath. And then, louder, “why won’t you just leave me alone?” _

_ Still standing, Greg crossed his arms. “Because I’m not letting you do this to yourself.” He went on before Tom could even open his mouth to protest. “You killed a girl, and that’s the harsh reality of it.” He noticed Tom clinching again, but continued without addressing it. “But you didn’t commit a cold-blooded murder. Her death is not your fault. If anyone, it’s Landon’s. _

_ “But you sitting here isn’t going to do anything. You could sit here and rot your life away, agonizing over the ‘what-ifs.’ Or you could get up, come to work, and help us prove that the girl’s death wasn’t in vain.” Greg crouched down, lowering himself to meet Tom’s eyes head-on. “We were working a case dealing with more than one child. Are you gonna let her spirit haunt you, or are you gonna fight for the rest of the kids we did save? The kids we did get out of there?” _

_ Tom dropped his gaze to the floor. “You’re not gonna let me be, are you?” _

_ “Are you gonna leave this case unfinished?” Greg shot back.  _

_ Tom sighed. “You know I won’t,” he said, admitting defeat.  _

_ Greg stood up straight, a self-satisfied air about him. “Good. Now, shower already, for fuck’s sake. I wasn’t kidding earlier – you smell like stale beer and cheap whiskey. Could you seriously have not broken out the fine stuff, at least?” _

_ Tom rolled his eyes, but he begrudgingly stood, if at least to shove one-handedly at Greg. He left the whiskey bottle on the coffee table – but not without taking one last, hearty swig, cheapness be damned. _

_ “And text your boyfriend while you’re at it. From what I gathered, you owe him an apology.” _

_ Tom came to a standstill halfway to his bedroom, and groaned. “Robbie set you up to this?” _

_ Greg didn’t say anything as he settled back onto the couch, but his smirk was enough of an answer. With another groan, Tom continued his trek to his bathroom to grab a clean pair of clothes before bearding to the bathroom to do as Greg bid. _

_ Closing the bathroom door behind him and out of Greg’s eyesight, Tom allowed himself a small smile. _

oOo

Watching the news reporter covering the latest headline, Jared didn’t have to be fluent in the local language to understand what she was saying.

_ “ … Child trafficking ring leader, Lucian Miguel, found mutilated in hotel room … wanted in multiple countries … body unrecognizable, dental records used to identify … ”  _

“Jay! You coming?”

“Yep!” Turning the TV off, Jared grabbed his suitcase. Leaving the hotel room, he let Jensen take the lead, at least until the airport, where they’d be boarding a flight to Turkey next.

Jensen still hadn’t caught up yet, but Jared knew he would soon.

Outside their hotel, waiting for the cab driver to load their luggage into the boot of his car, Jared looked past the rest of the five-star hotels on the street to the one on the corner. The outside of it was pooling with police and news reporters, the latter crowding as close as they could while the former did their best to hold them off.

Jared kept his face smooth as he watched the proceedings. “Jay?” Jensen stood, one leg in the cab, bracing his hands on top of the open door, but paused to look at Jared. He followed Jared’s line of sight, frowning at the hubbub. “What’s going on over there?”

Jared shrugged, moving to the cab and crowding against Jensen, wordlessly forcing him to get in.

The lie felt natural, falling from his lips. “I have no idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand we’re done. Jfc. Ik people who are sad to finish a long fic and honestly I was all pfft nah im fucking ECSTATIC to be done with this bitch in my ass but... damn.   
> ...yeah still no sadness I’m happy to be done and I’m gonna go take a small break from writing while I let my creative/writing juices get refilled again  
> Comments as a fairwell?


End file.
